Business And Economy Archive

post sums it up quite good. I bought SWG after being extremely annoyed at WoW with the "put you brains here when entering" mentality, I read the SWG *PRODUCT PACKAGE* which stated *SKILL BASED PLAYING* on the backside.

So, I joined two weeks pre-CURB and lostmy character and everything with it when it went down.This way I also got to be familiar with the bad customer service SOE has. For example, after writing three tickets, my respec still doesn't work. They actually think I have missed about the twelve hour rule but fail to see I haven't been inlogged for 24 hrs. Bugs. Andolder members actually donated credits to me to get me started again post-CURB after losing everything and SOE not being able to give back any currency.

Oh boy when I read in a interviewabout how sold out Smed got when playing WoW, and how he thinks it hasSOO much to give to SWG i didn't have much hope left. Now I'm reading about Kashyyk and their witches and how you get summoned in a graveyard when dying. Oh and the flash when you qualify for the next 'lvl'.

Tasteless? Yes. Plagiate from a bad game? Have no doubt.

SWG has been turned from a unique, handcrafted product into the McGame with cheese. Ok if someone likessuch games, would have been nice if they had gone to play WoW in that case.There *has* to be options also.

*Swears*. I guess I'm gonna cancel my account too. I can't believe it just is a month since I bought SWG + JTL. In good hopes I even bought the ROTW digital download. Down the toilet.

Argh I have never during my 20 years of computer gaming been this let down.

Van'Deri

Chimaera-European

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S1M0NE wrote:

Speaking on behalf of all of those that are frustrated and have difficulty putting into words their frustrations, here are just SOME of the very valid points:

• Unnecessary particle effects for combat and healing – just absurd and out of place for a Star Wars MMORPG. The PSG particle effect when reacting to a hit was the only appropriate addition I have seen thus far.

Okay, the particle effects are cheesy. No denying it. But I just let it go as I loot at is something I need to know what's going on. Might not be perfect, but its good to see when a bacta-toss is used in PvE or PvP.

• The removal of the combat queue is forcing players to stare at the top of their screen at the hotkeys (awaiting a timer between attacks), instead of observing and enjoying the action onscreen.

I disagree for two reasons. One, you can control+left Click on an attack you want to be your default attack (the one you just wanna spam). Two, once you play a template long enough you get a feel for when a timer runs out so you don't honestly need to watch the hotkeys to know. Some of the longer ones I'm still getting used to, but my mind knows when to hit Advanced Critical Shot again; still working on the timing for Stopping Shot.

• The removal of meds for healing – not only did this eliminate a large portion of the functioning economy; it takes the “science” out of science-fiction and has rendered useless the crafting ability for docs. Let’s not forget all the resources, SEAs, skill-modded clothing, etc, they have gathered to be a better-quality and unique doctor. Now… all docs are essentially clones.

Partially agree and disagree. Medics don't need meds for healing, but I look at it this way. They are a medic and will always have the right supplies on hand. When was the last time you heard any medic/doctor character in a sci-fi series says, 'Oh, shoot... out of tri-heal-adon'? Only time it happens is for plot purposes. So, I can deal with it.

Before the CU, most of the Doctors seemed clones to me. 15K for 2400+ buffs lasting 3 hours 20 minutes. Sound familiar? Only time I saw something different was when a new Doctor was breaking in and was giving 1800s that only lasted 2 hours 30 minutes for 8K. I loved those new doctors and their cheap grinding buffs. I wouldn't use them in PvP, but for quenkers... heck yeah.

Doctors STILL have the ability to be better than others. SEAs should still effect their healing making them better than docs without. The enchancers they get from Bio-Engineers (where all the old 'crafting' doctors should have respecced to) should have some differences depending on resources used... I know BE is having some issues right now, so can't be sure.

• Entertainers have been robbed of their only way to make a decent living, as it is simple for anyone to walk into a cantina, watch and listen for 30 secs to a minute and walk out with their “inspiration “ buff.

Funny. I tip entertainers more now than I did Pre-CU. Why? Because I would give a few thousand credits to an AFKer just to keep from getting on their 'banned/cheapskate' list. I didn't agree with tipping someone who wasn't AtTheKeyboad(ATK). Now, most of the AFK buffbots are gone and I actually get to talk to entertainers because i don't have to deal with the AFK spam. I'm willing to tip a lot more just because I like the conversation. And I'm willing to bet there are more players like me. Why should I tip someone who is AFK who isn't gonna /denyservice me? /denyservice blocks inspiration buffs too. If anything, the Entertainers who actually DESERVE credits are probably getting MORE of them.

• Weaponsmiths and armorsmiths have to learn reworked schematics and collect different resources than previously. I have read that quality of materials does not play as big a role.

I'll agree it sucks that their stocked resources might not be usable... but they can still sell them for a profit or use them in another schematic that now uses them. And I do agree that quality not playing as much of a role is somewhat depressing. But I also like the fact that everything has a deminishing return on it. It keeps the playing field more balanced which is good in ANY game.

• Chef foods and drinks have been reduced in overall value, both in combat effectiveness and duration.

Needed to be done to balance the system. Although, right now I think chefs are in a better position post-CU than pre-CU. My Bounty Hunter character isn't going to use the new doc buffs as they only last so long. I need to be able to time when my buffs are activated and when they will end. Right now, chefs are a better option for bounty hunters, Jedi, dungeon groups, and PvPers. Because you can pop the food when you need it... even if you don't have a doc with you. They aren't as powerful as before, but they are actually more effective in comparsion because of the timing aspect.

• Armor has gone from simple-to-understand stats to perplexing. Instead of percentages of protection, we now have a number value that means nothing, as we have received no documentation on how to “translate” these number values into something comprehendible.

Someone on the armorsmith forums did a very nice post of their research about what the new numbers read. I suggest to everyone who asks me about armor to read it. Again, the numbers are about diminishing returns. The EFFECT difference between 4000 and 4500 is larger than the difference between 4500 and 5000. I'll agree that SOE does NEED to provide a PDF explaining a lot of the CU. But overall, people are doing research. Prehaps someone should put all that research together and make a player-made manual. God knows we prolly know what needs to be in there more than the Devs do.

• The “conversion” process has rendered many previously crafted weapons, armor and power-ups either to a substandard level or useless.

Actually, most of my converted weapons turned out better than anything I've seen crafted since the CU. I'll admit my armor didn't. And power-ups work differently. They aren't powerups anymore as much as they are weapon customizers. Give up damage for speed. Give up accuracy for damage. etc.

• The removal of stats and stat migration – say goodbye to the old days of unique characters, with tailored stats to how they saw fit. Now every level 54 character (for example) is identical.

Unique characters? With the exception of entertainers and those who refused to use buffs (a minority, I might add), everyone had the SAME stat migration. Top out Mind, Focus, Willpower. Then max out secondaries. If anything is left, divide equally between Action and body... maybe put slightly more in body. For the most part, everyone has the same stat migration pre-CU. So, no real difference for the majority of the characters.

That said. I wish they had actually balanced and fixed the old system so stats would have been unique, interesting, and important.

• The level based system – not only has this borked gaining xp for so many players, it has made life miserable for purebred crafters and low level characters. It also forces players to gain xp in only one fashion; to run missions.

I'll agree crafters got the shaft. Low level characters did NOT. I went for level 23 to level 80 during double XP time (2 weeks) due to grouping with people. I grouped with at least 2 level 80s. One tanked, the other dealt most of the damage. If something went wrong, even my level 23 was treated as a level 80 for the damage modifier due to grouping. Truth be told, I hate the level modifier when I first heard about it. Now, I love it. Why? Because if one of my friends starts today. By next week, he can be at a level decent enough to come hunting with my level 80 DESPITE him only being like level 20 or so.

Also, you can find wild spawn to fight while in the wild. And most people only gain XP by running missions prior to the CU. So nothing has changed in that respect.

• Two of the same level character in the same profession, using the same skills and weapons will hit for the exact same damage with each successful hit. There is no variance or randomness, other than missing. This creates a “cookie cutter” society, when it comes to combat classes.

If they have the same profession some skills, and same weapons... why shouldn't they hit for the same average damage per hit? There is some variance and randomness.

Cookie Cutter? I'll admit this is a PvP comment... but remember when everyone who PvPed was: TKA stacker, TKA/Rifleman, CM(minus crafting line)/TKA, Rifleman/CM, Jedi? Its nice to see carbineers, pistoleers, smugglers, fencers, etc out there actually having a chance to compete. I see more variety of armor, templates, etc now than I did pre-CU. That includes PvE groups.

• No armor available for crafters and starter professions.

I agree... This sucks hands down. I think everyone should be able to wear any armor. The elite professions should provide the stat mitigations that they do. This means crafters can wear armor and get the protection, but they are gonna be worse off from a position of running and attempting to use that little CDEF they have. But at least its some protection.

• Many pets, especially non-CH BE’d pets, can no longer go toe-to-toe with an enemy, because in many cases its level will be significantly lower than its master’s. Many pet HAMs and stats have been nerfed in the conversion process, some of which are unplayable (meaning, too high a level… 80+).

Yes, there is a bug currently with pets having too high of CL. Devs have been advised and will address it. There are a lot of bugs to be addressed. However, I see more CHs now than I did pre-CU. CH is actually somewhat EFFECTIVE again. Heck, even usable in PvP due to the fact the PvP damage mod is gone.

• Extremely bug-ridden “upgrade”. There are so many (and have been listed elsewhere) that I will not bother repeating them all, as it would take too long.

Previous poster said it, I'll repeat it: seems standard for SWG. HOWEVER, you can blame the CURB being thrust on Live so quickly on the players who hit the open beta-testing. Once the blue frogs were activated, people quit testing and starting looking for the best templates they could find for PvE and PvP.

The Devs wanted the CU's bugs fixed by the time Episode III hits due to the fact they are hoping for a large influx of new players. They decided the best way to get the bugs addressed was to get everyone working on them. Do I agree with it? Nope. But I was too busy grinding my template for respec to worry about beta-testing... so in a way, I'm at fault as well.

• Damage multipliers – a level 54 creature/npc will hit a level 10 character for SIGNIFICANTLY more damage than a level 80 character. Why? That is the purpose of defensive skill mods.

See above statement about level modifer. Actually helps out the lower end players if they group with a level 80 because they become level 80 themselves.

• Experience gain modifiers based on skill level. 10 levels under yields 1 xp point per kill. 10 levels above yields 1 xp point per kill, not to mention a one-hit deathblow.

CU wanted to emphasize grouping. Group. During double XP time, I was pulling down 14K XP on bols and pikets in a group. Don't want to group with people, buy a combat droid. Don't want to group at all? Why did you buy an MMO? The second M stands for Multiplayer.

• The CU has made it extremely difficult, if not impossible to solo in combat. I enjoy grouping just as much as the next person who enjoys the “MM” in MMORPG. Yet... the change is too extreme.

Extremely bad for Jedi and I'm hoping they get rid of group visibility to help out those players. See what I said above: buy a combat droid.

• Root attack is extremely overpowered and has no counter, giving melee professions a serious disadvantage.

This is a STAR WARS game. Roots are there to give ranged professions the edge they need against melee professions. Star Wars isn't about swords, pikes, fists (no offense to the melee people), most of the weapons are blasters. Outside of Jedi, melee professions should be concerned when facing off against ranged combatants.

That said: if a melee player gets into melee range of a ranged player... the ranged player is prolly gonna lose. Melee does SERIOUS damage. Its balanced for the most part, but gives an edge to ranged to help maintain the STAR WARS feel of the game.

• Jedis having as much difficulty with PvE as regular combat class characters. This is an abomination to what Star Wars represents. Jedi are very formidable fighters in the Star Wars Universe.

Non of the SWG Jedi are trained like the ones in the movies. And this is also a game, you need to maintain SOME balance between professions for the sake of everyone's enjoyment of the game.

Side note: if you want to talk about an abomination of what Star Wars represents, look at the way some of those JEDI act. Leet speak, dueling in Coronet (not fighting, duelling. Big difference), etc.

• The balance his tipped too far in favor of PvP. Star Wars (in an MMORPG) is just as much, if not more about PvE than PvP.

GCW no longer has TEFs. You don't have to PvP if you don't want to unless you choose to be Jedi... and even then you are choosing to PVP by being a Jedi. And look at the title of the game: Star Wars Galaxies An Empire Divided. That suggests a game about the Civil War. I didn't sign up to go kill bols, pikets, huurons, quenkers, banthas, etc. I wanted to roleplay the different aspects of the GCW. I've been a ranger, at that point, PvE was important to me because I was supplying organics to people to help in the GCW.

I think we have a nice balance between the two. My template is good at PvE... and I'm getting better at it in PvP.

• An overall state of confusion exists, as the developers have provided us with little to no information on all the details of this ”upgrade”. Many people are going to the forums and fansites just to find out how to play the new game. Granted, the game will still go through many changes in the next month or so, as hotfixes are implemented, but an e-manual posted on the official site would have been considerate of those that are paying their salaries.

Again, I completely agree. Maybe us players should make one and put it up in the Game guide. Someone could make a PDF version and make it downloadable. Heck, maybe if its good enough... maybe SOE would put it on their servers for us to download.

These are many of the reasons why a majority of the player base feels betrayed by SOE. SWG simply is no longer what it used to be. This Combat Upgrade was not an upgrade at all, it was a conversion; and a conversion that many feel was for the worse. Players that complained about shortcomings in the game pre-CU wanted a fixed game, not a new one.

I again, completely agree. But The CU SWG is more balanced and is more enjoyable of a game than the pre-CU one. Would I have rather seen buffs and armor nerfed, the old specials fixed, the professions balanced, the combat system balanced instead of a brand new system? Yes, I would. But I'll take this over the old system ANY day.

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Star Wars Insider magazine #23:
"'Gospel', or canon as we refer to it, includes only the screenplays, the films, the radio dramas and the film novelizations."

"When it comes to absolute canon, the real story of Star Wars, you must turn to the films themselves - and only the films." - Steve Sansweet, Fan Relations

Paelyn, I would love to duel you sometime, if you dont think root is that strong. I can't lose to melee characters outside of Jedi ofcourse. all I need is one root to stick, and I get free blasting time, the rest of the fight I spend running away, and healing myself as much as possible, until I get a root to stick, then it is over.

Offer all auction winnings to one of my vendors at my store.
Maigrey Master Weaponsmith, Master Droid Engineer, Master Merchant

Zayra Master Pistoleer, Master Smuggler, CM 4000

Maigrey's Weapons Coronet(radiant) WP -251, -5676

Maybe. IMO, should be overpowered (lvl 95) PvE, but normal PvP (realism be darned, balance is king). But only one BH should be able to actually engage them at a time (loosing xp can really suck).