What worries me is them saying we're going to give Anakin a zeta after Padmé is released but will monitor their performance to make sure they're not overperforming. So they're gonna release both and maybe nerf them after people have whaled/geared?
We're running a closed beta test right now to gather that data and ideally make any needed changes prior to Padme's release.
100% agree. Hope this level of communication continues.
Thank you! It's been a really respectful conversation so far - and that helps us open up further. We'll keep trying to be as transparent as we can and share our thought process.
Happy Cake Day!
Thanks! I didn't realize that was a thing.
I see what you did there.
"...we are continuing to consider some changes to ensure his performance under Padme meets our desired performance."
Best line
Desired performance targets, will edit.
Some of the changes we are considering would make him work synergize more specifically inside a Galactic Republic squad
English is hard.
Ha! I even tried reading it backwards and still missed that. Good catch!
"As we addressed on Friday, some of the recent releases have had issues, and as a result we are looking into opportunities to get more eyeballs[...]"
For a few seconds there, I thought we were getting more eyeballs. Then I read the rest of it. :'(
Give me all the eyeballs!
Digging this guy more and more.
I like you.
Thanks! /u/Devolutionator, you're not so bad yourself! ;)
You just need each half of the office to learn one variant of single-handed Dvorak... then you can double your company’s productivity!
Ha! You should see my travesty of an ergo keyboard!
Hahaha. I like that you can take time to laugh at yourself a bit, shows resilience in the face of a very reactive community. Thanks for taking the time to communicate with us.
We love you guys - even when you're salty!
We have a lot of room to improve on many fronts - I'm not sure you're ever *there*- but this team works (and will keeping working) really hard and cares about the community and long-term health of the game.
Read more(My credibility: lead designer on Lord of the Rings online, game designer on Everquest, 4.5 years working on EA Sports titles, etc. I KNOW how hard it is to work on a complex game for a voca fan base based on a beloved franchise.)
This game has outlasted similar garbage because, historically, despite the emotional tone the community can take at times, it has been a reasonably balanced affair (ok, and STAR WARS, but I like DC and stopped playing that ho-hum game). The difference between F2P and P2P was generally time, and that was fair, it sorts itself out.
The INCREDIBLY CONCERNING thing about the Malak response to EP and that line about Anakin is that you aren’t prioritizing balance. I say this constructively. And the bulk of your post is exactly the kind of community management this game needs! Honest, holding yourself accountable but not making excuses. The thing you have to remember is that the best way to make the most money over the longest time is to pla...
Thanks for the support /u/mimregi! I really appreciate you speaking from your experience!
I fully agree that our community is loud because people care so much, which is wonderful! I'd be far more concerned if we heard crickets when dropped difficult news.
The balance is a really delicate thing to protect that we think a lot about, and we're learning how to open up to the community about our thought process around it, but there's room to improve. Perhaps we can address more around it in an upcoming Dev Q&A.
CG_SBCrumb: Light side for sure.
Unique: Roller Coaster Mustache
If you're refunding gear for sass, why not just reset her gear for everyone? Then we can decide to use her or not. I had her G12+2 since traya, and had been using her in my dr squad until malak hit. Now she's pretty useless except for a b or c level sith team.
That's a tougher ask. How do we quantify how useful/valuable she was back then and across time? I don't ask that as a rhetorical question, but rather something we struggle through all the time. With the release of DR we communicated that she had synergy with DR, so that's a pretty clear point in time where we influenced investment. Characters have a fluid, not static utility across time; i.e., they rise to prominence, are replaced with other characters, get reworked and/or find synergy with newer characters in a cycle. In the same way that we're going back and reworking older GR characters to bring them back.
Really appreciate the well thought out post from the game makers.
Invest in QA! Its expensive, but it will save you money long term.
Thanks /u/Zeitfallen ! We do have an incredibly hard working and dedicated QA and Design staff who do their best. The more characters we add, the more Herculean the task, so we're thinking through other approaches - possibly a Public Test Server or other options.
Read moreOur intention is that Jedi Knight Anakin should not outperform Darth Malak
I welcome this little bit of communication (speaking at the post as a whole). However, this line right here is incredibly concerning. You (CG/EA) have now set a precedent of nerfing and monitoring ANY older character than the one you currently have released in an attempt to make the released character the most powerful. As a result, there may be 170 characters in game. However, a team of 5 are all that will be needed/required at any given point in the future. All previous investments will be nullified. This game is no longer a resource management game, or a collection game. I (the player) will not be able to compete in any area unless I have the current character. You (CG/EA) have decided that the almighty dollar is your focus vs making a product. Remember back in the days when there were no updates? Back when games were what you paid for t...
/u/Grimsblood, there is sooooo much to say on this topic and perhaps we'll address it further in an upcoming post or dev Q&A. I had this conversation many, many times with players at Celebration, and I think the crux of the argument centers on whether it's "any" or "every" area of the game. Let's get into that further in the dev Q&A.
Looks like Carrie found a nice comfortable rock to hide under.
Hey, it's my turn with the laptop!
Edit: My first silver! Thank you so much! And thank you to Caley for sacrificing himself to make this joke possible.
makes sense to me. with so many toons, we are already at the point of having reached "winning the lottery" level of possible interactions. Some math nerd needs to do a little factorial calculations (i forgot how) to indicate all possible permutations of 5 characters of 170 fighting it out with 5/170 characters and tell us that it's reach the billions of possibilities or something.
CG probably already long reached the point of beta testing that number of interations to be completely cost prohibitive. a beta server is probably inevitable in my opinion.
While there's an argument to be made that not all combinations are viable, I think it's like 1.115B. Still, not an excuse.
Is my gear on assassin being reset and I’m getting my gear back ? Or am I keeping my g12 sass and just getting the gear spent back? Other then that good changes very clear communication ty cg.
Some version of the former, details to follow. Just subscribed the other day. Thanks for being part of the community,.
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