EricMusco

Hey folks,

I wanted to circle back to this thread with 7.2 out the door and talk a little bit about our philosophy on Kithrawl. A few notes:

• We didn't build this boss with the intention of it being on the radar of progression groups. As a boss players can run into in the open world we didn't want its difficulty to be incredibly high. We would love for world bosses like this to be a touchpoint for players to start experiencing larger group content.
• It is intended that you can use your companion! I know that we block this off for some world bosses but we feel being able to have your companion out, especially in the open world, feels better.
• This may lead to the fight being easier, or at least easier to beat in situations where players can't get a big group together. That is also totally fine and intended.

My apologies for not putting out these details as you were giving us PTS feedback. Jackie p...

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Hey folks, 

We’re seeing a lot of chatter about the changes coming to PvP in both the PTS and PvP sub-forums. To consolidate conversations, I’m posting a thread here rather than responding to several threads with similar information. I’ll break down the main points that we’re seeing and address them accordingly. 

Why are we making these changes to PvP?

We talked about this during the 7.2 livestream, but I will reiterate the goals here. There are three main goals we want to achieve with this revamp: 

• Create a positive and engaging PvP experience for all players
• Increase the overall participation and quality of PvP matches 
• Offer new incentives that benefit everyone who participates in PvP

With these goals in mind, this is why we moved to the PvP Revamp as you know it. Which includes the new PvP seasonal structure, queues being condensed into 8v8 (Warzones) and 4v...

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On 11/9/2022 at 9:56 PM, Bob_Americanu said:

Are the old rewards (aka Replica from Giradda) going to be available from the vendor in 7.2?

Couldn't find an answer on the livestream maybe I missed it or someone knows.

I really want to grind for the furious saber and I am in the process of getting tokens. I wouldn't mind losing them so long as I can still get it in 7.2. 

Hey there,

It looks it was answered elsewhere in the thread but I want to make sure to get yellow text on this. When 7.2 goes live all Ranked PvP Tokens are going away so please be sure to spend them ASAP.

The items that players could purchase with those tokens will be moved to the new PVP vendors where they will be purchasable with the new PvP seasonal currency. While these items will be available on the vendor, they will not be easy to obtain. The rate that players w...

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17 hours ago, davensuitelife said:

For the love of GOD tell me there is some type of change coming to matchmaking settings? I don't care to be put on the same team 3-4 games in a row with the healer who can't bust 300 hps. 

 

Like once in a while getting the new/alt charger you aren't familiar with I get it, but almost every game for an hour is absolute trash. I know that they wanna get rid of scoreboards but the fact remains we'll all still be able to tell the weakest link on the team. Stop punishing above average and good players by saddening them to carry every game it's not fun for anyone...sorry for the rank but I don't feel like having to pack an extra large backpack every time I log in! 

Hey there,

Totally hear you. We didn’t get into it on the livestream cause it gets a bit in the weeds but yes, we have made a variety of matchmaking improveme...

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22 hours ago, Master_Neaj said:

Been searching for any information on the VIP Collectors Edition that is coming up. Wondering if it's like a 3rd edition. 1st was the big box set that had the Malgus statue, then there's the one from the website. Is this going to be another, etc????

 

Or is there information coming up sooner???

TLDR - What is coming in 7.1.1 is an item on the Cartel Market that grants access to the CE vendor on the fleet (from the original Collector's Edition) and a wristband to access the VIP section of the fleet.

Hey there,

I think Jackie's ...

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17 hours ago, supertimtaf said:

So I take it that there's a team dedicated to bugfixing ? Great  Are you hiring by any chances ?

More on topic, does this mean that we should expect to see more improvements to the user experience in general ? QoL features are something that should really be looked at when trying to get a game to last, even when it comes to diverse things like new forums, newer launcher...

And furthermore, is there any chance that we'd get a list of what was exactly improved with the new launcher ? Like a patch note ? I think that having some "substance" to read could help ease a lot of concerns regarding the necessity of this update. ...

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The forums are the place that we primarily get player feedback from even more so when it comes to PTS. We also gather it from a number of other places both official (social media, content creators) and unofficial (Discord, Reddit, Twitch) but the forums is the place we engage the most.

That, of course, is speaking specifically to feedback. Data, design goals, etc. are all a component of our decision making that goes beyond player feedback. These are things are working to be better about communicating as well to help drive better feedback.

Circling back to polls. If players like, or do not like something (or both), it is usually pretty apparent from the conversations around it. Polling adds little value from a feedback gathering standpoint since the "data" itself isn't usable to validate it. But on the flipside, forum-goers might take a poll as that data validation, which is only true in a vacuum. (Note from Jackie: That isn't to say that staff won't be using po... Read more

Hey there!

Ok yeah, let's talk about polls and the forums. This is a decision that might even predate me as CM but I know the philosophy was shared over the years. Polling is something that is, generally speaking, a great engagement feature. However, part of the challenge is that players will often look at polls on the forums and their results as "supporting data" for things as opposed to a means of conversation.

The forums are an excellent source of feedback and discussion but it is worth understanding that the forums represent a very small fraction of the playerbase. And even then, forum-goers tend to only fall within the most engaged of our player types. That is a bunch of words to say, the forum community is excellent but it is not always an accurate representation of the full breadth of our playerbase.

Now, it is for that very reason that the forums are valuable, to get that feedback from our most engaged players. But is also means that polling is ... Read more

Good question! So, there are two primary reasons that we are updating the forums:

1. Modernizing our game and supporting systems/platforms remains a goal of ours and the forums are just one example of that! By updating it to an entirely new platform it introduces a host of new functionality (for you and for us) and future proofs us so we can continue to update it going forward.
2. With our forums being a very old and very custom version of vBulletin it was simply on its way to becoming unsupportable. Between choosing to stop supporting the forums (which would inevitably shut them down) or replacing them, we chose the latter.

Hope that addresses your questions, thanks!

-eric

Hey there,

As we are in progress of planning for future updates, I noted in this other thread here that we are seeking feedback on outliers in Flashpoints. In the other thread I spoke mostly about length or difficulty but you raise another valid concern here as well. Story Flashpoints without an explicit Story // Solo mode and the problems that presents in other difficulties. The tension of the "PLEASE SKIP CUTSCENES" for newer players, etc.

As I did in the other thread please pass on any Flashpoints where you see issues like this! On top of making note of specific Flashpoints, let us know what your core issue is as well as the ideal solve that would course correct that issue for you. This is not a guarantee that we can revamp a FP exactly to your resolution, but this helps us understand where the pain points are and how to focus on improving them.

Thanks!

-eric

Hey there,

Ah yes, new Stronghold! So, this is something we have been chatting about recently as well so I can speak a bit to what is and isn't planned. First off, you should not expect a new Stronghold this year. I know there was another thread a couple of weeks asking about a possible new SH with Galactic Season 3, we will be talking in the coming weeks about the GS3 rewards but a new SH is not one of them.

That said, we are tentatively looking to add a new SH with GS4 next year. Take that statement with dump trucks of salt as we are still early in reward planning for GS4 and a lot can change between now and then. There has also been some chatter about a new non-GS Stronghold but nothing concrete on the schedule right now. I know you will be very curious regarding possible locations but since this all early days and tentative I am not gonna speak to that now.

Thanks all.

-eric

Totally hear you and that is definitely the plan (again what you are seeing isn't intended implementation).

Hey there,

Ok, so this one is interesting. What is being alluded to is a quality of life change that changes how fog of war shows up in the map so you can now see a bit of what is underneath it. This is with the intention it is easier to navigate unexplored areas, get to Missions, etc.

Well... when I saw your post I thought "Huh, I know what they are talking about, but that's not in yet... is it?" Hence why this wasn't mentioned previously in our livestream or patch notes.

What you are seeing is an unintended and incomplete implementation of said QoL improvement. We are planning a host of improvements to maps which are currently targeting GU 7.2 which the proper version of this change would be a part of (and available to test on PTS). Since this wasn't actually supposed to be in this build we are going to revert this change in our upcoming bug fix patch (coming in the next week or so). This is just to exercise an abundance of caution to ensure that this... Read more

Hey there,

It's like you are an audience plant! This is something we have been very recently talking about that we want to start spending some time on addressing. Taking content outliers (like Flashpoints that are dramatically longer than others) and working to bring them more in line with each other.

If I can hijack the thread slightly we would love to hear your " is too compared to other content of its type>". And beyond just general feedback about entire content, feel free to get really granular. Bosses that are particularly rough or unfun, travel routes that take too long, etc. This can be your airing of grievances but please be specific so that we can build actionable feedback from it.

I wouldn't expect these changes in the super short term (like the next couple updates) as it will take time to audit and start making changes. But it is definitely something we have interest in doing.

Thanks all.

-eric

Hey there,

Others in this thread have made some relevant points around things like Loyalist / Saboteur, but there is also a bit more to this decision from our side.

We wanted to avoid having just a bunch of different "boost" options at character create, especially to have clear starting points for new and returning players. When looking at those starting points we chose 3 different points based on each story as its own "saga". So you have the classic game (class story start), KOTFE (the Knights of saga), and Onslaught (the current saga). In this same example, you can't skip straight to KOTET from a boost, just like LotS.

All of that said, "catch-up time" is something that will grow as we continue to add more story content in the current saga. I'll chat with the team and see if there are adjustments to consider here.

Thanks for the feedback!

-eric

Hey there,

1. This is actually unintended. We have a small bug fix patch coming soon (ideally in the next couple weeks) where this is currently slated to be fixed.
2. I'll check that we have this tracked to get fixed in a future release. As always make sure to raise any bugs you see in the bug report forums!

-eric

Hey folks,

I know the recent announcement is going to take some time for everyone to process. We are right there with you! I've traveled the world with Charles, he attended my wedding, he is a dear friend, and will be sorely missed. Still, I want to take this opportunity to introduce, or even re-introduce some of the names you read about today as you will certainly hear from some, if not all of us, more regularly going forward.

I suspect if you are here in the forums that I am no stranger to you. I started in these very forums as a fan myself over 10 years ago, moved onto the Community Team, became CM, moved into Production, and now I am typing this ... Read more

Hey folks,

Patch notes for 7.0.2b are now available, here: https://www.swtor.com/patchnotes

Thanks.

-eric

Hey folks,

As you likely saw in our most recent blog post, 7.1 has entered the final phase of our PTS! The Manaan Daily Area is now available for testing and more to the point of this thread, all of the R-4 Anomaly Operation will also be available.

Lady Dominique is the newest boss that has been added to the Operation. As she is the 4th and final boss, we wanted to make her a bit special, so we really honed and focused our efforts into some wild new mechanics and surprises players haven�t seen in the past.

One focus in particular was how the encounter communicates to the player in terms of readability of the boss mechanics. Our VFX team did some new work throughout the Operation, so we�re looking forward to what you all think about these improvements as you go through R-4 on PTS.

What�s great about working on SWTOR is the ability to try out new things and constantly find ways we can improve and enhance the player experience. We will continu... Read more

Hey folks,

Star Wars Celebration is now just a few weeks away, so now is the perfect time to talk to you about what you can expect from us at the 2022 event. In previous years we have done everything from panels to a booth floor presence and of course, our Cantina event � and this year will provide attending guests with more exciting opportunities to dive into!

We hope you�re ready to embark on a journey throughout this year�s Celebration because there are going to be a number of places you can find us! In lieu of a Cantina, we will be joining the Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes... Read more