SW: The Old Republic Part 5

[Hassat Hunter]

I had initially assumed the catpeople race would be included, and indeed only be available with the expansion. Not sure of the business rationale of not doing that, but eh.

I can easily answer that.

 

While in the DA:O days unfinished content like a Shale would be delivered free for buyers, in modern day BW they happily cut out chunks of fully finished content, like that DA2 party member or in this case the Cathar to give you something more to pay for...

They aren't even trying to hide it under 'it benefits first-buyers above second-hand buyers' anymore... everyone gets screwed.

[Humanoid]

Even in terms of cold hard cash though, it might not be a clear-cut win. How much more successful would the expansion be in terms of sales if they included more easy-to-develop content like new races in it? (I mean it's not like they even have different voice acting, so it's just a new face model and texturing really)

 

Anecdotally, a lot of people bought the Slingshot DLC for XCOM not because of the crappy new missions, but because it had sweet hats as a character customisation option.

 

But I guess that's an unanswerable question without seeing hard numbers.

Edited May 16, 2013 by Humanoid

[Gorth]

 

Infact, it adds NOTHING to the game pre-50. It's all for 50+

 

Yeah this is a big problem for TOR.  Most MMO's slowly add in new lower level areas, giving players alternate ways to progress.  TOR is sort of designed to not allow that.  It is too linear.

 

Well, they could start by replacing some of the 'Heroics-X' stuff with story stuff...

 

Also, I feel a bit sad, that out of my nice collection of assault cannons and sniper rifles, there are two characters (possible some later companions) that can use them. Not necessarily asking for more base classes, but a few more advanced classes would be nice. Not sure if I'll get the cat people or not (always thought 'Juhani' (sp?) felt out of place in Kotor). On the other hand, traveling interstate and unable to play for the time being, I just out of curiosity clicked on the 'discuss this' button on the web site. Jeebus, I can understand if the Bioware guys don't bother listening to people anymore. 14+ pages of ranting and self entitlement issues. The abuse and the accusations were grotesque. I think I might buy it just out of spite

[Nepenthe]

 

I had initially assumed the catpeople race would be included, and indeed only be available with the expansion. Not sure of the business rationale of not doing that, but eh.

I can easily answer that.

 

While in the DA:O days unfinished content like a Shale would be delivered free for buyers, in modern day BW they happily cut out chunks of fully finished content, like that DA2 party member or in this case the Cathar to give you something more to pay for...

They aren't even trying to hide it under 'it benefits first-buyers above second-hand buyers' anymore... everyone gets screwed.

 

 

I'd agree, except that I got the DA2 party member (as well as the ME3 one) included in my game package. So it's delivered free to (at least some) buyers...

[alanschu]

Well, they could start by replacing some of the 'Heroics-X' stuff with story stuff...

Also, I feel a bit sad, that out of my nice collection of assault cannons and sniper rifles, there are two characters (possible some later companions) that can use them. Not necessarily asking for more base classes, but a few more advanced classes would be nice. Not sure if I'll get the cat people or not (always thought 'Juhani' (sp?) felt out of place in Kotor). On the other hand, traveling interstate and unable to play for the time being, I just out of curiosity clicked on the 'discuss this' button on the web site. Jeebus, I can understand if the Bioware guys don't bother listening to people anymore. 14+ pages of ranting and self entitlement issues. The abuse and the accusations were grotesque. I think I might buy it just out of spite

 

 

We aim to specialize in being the destroyer of lives and worlds.

 

Personally, I figure we might as well earn Worst Company in America!

[HoonDing]

Now that I have a new modem, maybe I should restart the Old Republic. My obese Imperial Agent was just getting to getting into Assaj Ventress' pants.

[WorstUsernameEver]

 

I had initially assumed the catpeople race would be included, and indeed only be available with the expansion. Not sure of the business rationale of not doing that, but eh.

I can easily answer that.

 

While in the DA:O days unfinished content like a Shale would be delivered free for buyers, in modern day BW they happily cut out chunks of fully finished content, like that DA2 party member or in this case the Cathar to give you something more to pay for...

They aren't even trying to hide it under 'it benefits first-buyers above second-hand buyers' anymore... everyone gets screwed.

 

As much as I hated the practice to cut one party member and only deliver it to very early pre-orders (people who basically couldn't read reviews at that point) why do you assume that it was budgeted for the full game and was ready when the game went gold (if not before), while Shale, in your own words, was unfinished content that was completed after the game went gold?

[Hassat Hunter]

Being part of EA, you already have... twice.

 

0_o. Who did I miss out in ME3?

 

And I can understand the "entitlement" You pay $15 a month? Not enough. You pay $10 for an expansion WHICH WAS SUPPOSED TO INCLUDE THEM, not enough. Now I know a lot use opologetic excuses like 'you get 500CC for one month sub, so you can use that for the Cathar', but it's still paying ontop of your sub. It's cheaper to not pay the $15 a month and just getting $15 of CC.

Although if it's free for subs that could pose issues if you unsub. So the best overall solution would be to put it in the expansion, you can't 'loose' that. And they did. Till they don't. And put it up later for more bucks.

That's the biggest problem I see. If they just stuffed it with the x-pack like they promised, no one would complain.

 

EDIT (2 new posts appear out-of-nowhere);

While Shale and apparently the ME3/DA2 where finished post-gold, their development already started before that. So they just finished it, right? Around DA:O that would be a free gift (we fixed it up, here, good people). Later however the practice became just to ask money for that.

They promised the cathar for the expansion. Not done yet by then and want to release? Fine. But give what you promised to it's buyers. Not make them pay afterwards just because your timing and workethic sucks and you didn't finish it in time.

 

EDIT 2;

During appointing my skill points (Jedi Shadow, Balance Tree) I noticed "Mind Warp." It states it makes Mind Crush last 1 second longer. The second skill point does 2.

 

So unmodified it does x-x damage instantly (don't recall) and at that moment did 2030 damage over 6 seconds. Applying one point it did the same x-x damage instantly and still 2030 damage. But now over 7 seconds. 2 points, still 2030 damage over time, this time 8 seconds. I mean... doesn't that make Mind Crush WORSE per invested skill point? Am I missing something here? Or is it seriously the worst skill ever, making a power less potent than more. Is it's function hidden or did BioWare really drop a ball here?

Edited May 17, 2013 by Hassat Hunter

[Spider]

They never promised cathar as part of the expansion.

 

They were shown for the first time at the same time as makeb, so I understand the confusion, but was never said to be part of the same package. Irrc, the warzone Ancinet Hypergates and HK as companion were revealed at the same time.

 

cathar was originally supposed to arrive way before the expansion, but kept getting delayed.

 

As for wether or not it should have been in the expansion. It depends. If including cathar in the expansion would have meant raising the price of the expansion, then I prefer them doing it like this. As a subscriber I don't have to pay extra money for the cathar should I want them. I haven't gotten them yet and have no real desire to either. I don't particluarly want to change any of my characters to that race, and don't see myself levelling another one anytime soon (if they release a new class or advanced class that may change).

 

Edit: As for your question, tooltips on damage over time abilities are a bit misleading. What it does is x ticks for y damage. putting those skillpoints there should mean that x is increased, ie making it do more damage overall.

Edited May 17, 2013 by Spider

[Hassat Hunter]

Well, they made cutscenes and story exposition part of the Cartel Market.

They just released a patch which only fixes Cartel Market issues (leaving the gazillions issues they added in 2.0 untouched), because damn do they release so many patches they can do that (no, they don't. Barely any stuff gets fixed at all).

 

Why the heck is it still sub with F2P anyway, since they clearly already went the full F2P route adding a cartel coin cost to, well, everything. Might aswell kill subs and thus the false pretense. Maybe actually gives them some breathing room instead of all the right and just rage from subbers who pay $15 a month just having to pay more for anything new, while getting really nothing upon us f2p 'leechers'...

[Gorth]

I tried those new packs. Calling it a cut-scene would be "generous". It's a 10 second holovid. You get more story from the terminals in the FP boarding section, before starting a FP.

 

It's ridiculous that it takes up an 'artifact' slot in the pack though, so no more packs for Gorth. Speaking of which, 'Gorth' is now dead (R.I.P.)... &^%$&* forced server transfers and involuntary name changes. Couldn't make any worthy replacement for 'Gorth' so I picked something from a comic 'MacRoth'. Yeah, silly, I know. But then, I found the forced name changes silly too.

 

Closing in on level 37 and should probably do some of those flashpoints that my character has missed out on (since the Aussie servers started getting depopulated at the start of the month). Boarding Party and The Foundry are up next.

 

I wonder if they have a suggestion box somewhere... I'm getting truly fed up with not having a 'global' (server wide?) ignore list and I'm sure I've added the same morons several times for my different toons. One list is 30+ names long. I really want to mark all toons of an account as ignore by all toons on my account.

[Spider]

There is a suggestion box on the forums at swtor.com/community.

[alanschu]

Well, they made cutscenes and story exposition part of the Cartel Market.

They just released a patch which only fixes Cartel Market issues (leaving the gazillions issues they added in 2.0 untouched), because damn do they release so many patches they can do that (no, they don't. Barely any stuff gets fixed at all).

 

Why the heck is it still sub with F2P anyway, since they clearly already went the full F2P route adding a cartel coin cost to, well, everything. Might aswell kill subs and thus the false pretense. Maybe actually gives them some breathing room instead of all the right and just rage from subbers who pay $15 a month just having to pay more for anything new, while getting really nothing upon us f2p 'leechers'...

 

The bulk of the microtransactions comes from people with subscriptions, so it seems as though subscriptions and the microtransactions are symbiotic for a lot of people.  I'm not sure what you mean by "breathing room" however (since the new model introduced has been successful, including the number of subscriptions going up).

 

Further, I'm not sure why you care that there are subscriptions.  Would it make for a better experience for you if they were gone?  I'm not sure how, since you don't seem to be a subscriber and hence would be unaffected by it.

[Nepenthe]

I tried those new packs. Calling it a cut-scene would be "generous". It's a 10 second holovid. You get more story from the terminals in the FP boarding section, before starting a FP.

 

It's ridiculous that it takes up an 'artifact' slot in the pack though, so no more packs for Gorth. Speaking of which, 'Gorth' is now dead (R.I.P.)... &^%$&* forced server transfers and involuntary name changes. Couldn't make any worthy replacement for 'Gorth' so I picked something from a comic 'MacRoth'. Yeah, silly, I know. But then, I found the forced name changes silly too.

 

Closing in on level 37 and should probably do some of those flashpoints that my character has missed out on (since the Aussie servers started getting depopulated at the start of the month). Boarding Party and The Foundry are up next.

 

I wonder if they have a suggestion box somewhere... I'm getting truly fed up with not having a 'global' (server wide?) ignore list and I'm sure I've added the same morons several times for my different toons. One list is 30+ names long. I really want to mark all toons of an account as ignore by all toons on my account.

 

"Htrog"?

 

[Raithe]

I've got to admit it seems that most of my guild after playing fairly solidly for a year and a bit are all suffering burnout at the same time. I was all interested in seeing Markab, but then that got released while i was in Mexico, and since I've been back home I just haven't been able to get in the right psyche to get back in for any serious length of time..

 

Heh, everyone seems to be popping in for 10 minutes here, 10 minutes there the last month or two.

[Hassat Hunter]

There is a suggestion box on the forums at swtor.com/community.

Subscribers only though. Since preferred status customers obviously have no bugs, nor any suggestions.

If you mail them a suggestion they handily say 'don't tell us, post in the forums!' but yeah, kinda impossible. 

The bulk of the microtransactions comes from people with subscriptions, so it seems as though subscriptions and the microtransactions are symbiotic for a lot of people.

I wonder how much that is the forced 500CC and how much is actually paid for. And if they would be willing to shelve more if not paying $15 a month.

I'm not sure what you mean by "breathing room" however (since the new model introduced has been successful, including the number of subscriptions going up).

That I notice a lot of subscribers get fed up with having to pay CC and gamble for every new piece of content even if they pay $15 a month, like with dyes or this quest. Or the renames, and the character barber shop. And much, much more.

Further, I'm not sure why you care that there are subscriptions.  Would it make for a better experience for you if they were gone?  I'm not sure how, since you don't seem to be a subscriber and hence would be unaffected by it.

Less complaining in chat. More reasonable CC prices perhaps (since not relying on the '500 gift' as base and making stuff cost $20 as result). Less looking down on us, since we're all the same then. No weasingly Bio-ware devs who try to explain why people need to pay more upon their payment. Maybe actual bugfixes?

 

I suppose it's all a dream, still. It's only that it's clearly turn over to the full F2P model (with hanging a cost to everything), except they forgot to scrap subscriptions.

[Spider]

There weren't fewer complains in chat or on the forums before the cartel market was introduced, just complains about different things.

 

Also, those you see complaining are a vocal minority. My guild has 60 active members (finally gotten a real counter instead of an estimate thanks to the xp bonus) and a vast majority are subscribers. I don't think I've seen anyone once complain in guld chat (or heard on team speak) that we have to spend cartel coins on things like customizations and cathar (and we didn't have to spend CC on cathar, could buy them for credits on the GTN).

 

So no, I don't for a second believe that the whiners are representing any sort of majority even among subscribers.

 

Also it's been confirmed that the content coming up, new flashpoints for instance, will not be cartel market content. So Bioware is doing what they said they would all along. The cartel market is for convenience and customization stuff, everything else is free for subscribers. The only thing that can be considered an exception to that are the grade 7 space ship parts, but since they could be acquired through in game means you could technically argue it was just convenience. But it was a mistake and has been admitted as such.

[alanschu]

 

 

That I notice a lot of subscribers get fed up with having to pay CC and gamble for every new piece of content even if they pay $15 a month, like with dyes or this quest. Or the renames, and the character barber shop. And much, much more.

 

Are you certain you aren't just seeing what you want to see?

 

The first thing I do in any MMO is leave general chat, because it's filled to the brim with complaining individuals.  I also have a coworker that worked on a different MMO, where forum accounts were linked to in game accounts.  The people that complained the most about mictrotransactions being stupid and overpriced were the ones that bought 90% of the microtransactions....

 

I think on some level, it's some people thinking they're savvy and simply hoping that the price will go down/get removed since that would only be of benefit to them, since they have shown that they want the content.

[Tale]

It stands to reason that the people most adversely affected by microtransactions are those who lack impulse control and buy into them. Followed by those who have the ideological opposition to microtrans.

 

But "stands to reason" is kind of like "sounds good on paper."

[Gorth]

Just an observation, having over time played around a bit with all base classes (taken at least one of each to a level where they got their ship), the differences in acting skills of the main performers sure is uneven. Bounty hunters and smugglers lead by a large margin on Gorth's leaderboard. Doesn't hurt either, since they are the ones I currently enjoy playing and pushing for high levels.

 

Notable runner up being the imperial agents.

[Gorth]

"Htrog"?

Closest thing to that would be an old Icewind Dale 2 game, featuring a barbarian family, including brothers Throg and Groth (lead by 'Gorth' of course)

[alanschu]

Just an observation, having over time played around a bit with all base classes (taken at least one of each to a level where they got their ship), the differences in acting skills of the main performers sure is uneven. Bounty hunters and smugglers lead by a large margin on Gorth's leaderboard. Doesn't hurt either, since they are the ones I currently enjoy playing and pushing for high levels.

 

Notable runner up being the imperial agents.

 

I was a big fan of the Imperial Agent.  I loved when the actor changed accents depending on cover.

 

I didn't have any real issues with the voice acting talent, though the ones I am most familiar with are Male Jedi Knight, Male Agent, and Female Inquisitor.

[Gorth]

I got a Chiss Sniper (level 26), a Zabrak Sith Juggernaut (level 27), a female human smuggler (level 28), a cyborg Commando (level 30) and ex-Gorth the Bounty Hunter now at level 38.

 

So yeah, quite a bit of effort invested

 

Not really into the Jedi/Sith stuff, but made an exception for the Sith Warrior, probably part because of the good acting. Yes, my sniper is incredibly good at the callous assassin type thing.

[alanschu]

I enjoyed playing a SIth Inquisitor that wasn't so keen on employing the ways of the Sith, for good effect

[Gorth]

I'll get around to that one eventually. Had a level 20 Inquisitor once, but deleted him (as well as a level 22 jedi). This was *before* the barber shop and name changes, and I just hated either the looks or silly names I had ended up with for those characters.