Creature Handler Archive
Thread: Combat Balance Delayed CH left out
We have made a decision to address major combat issues only and not do the full combat balance at this time. After the Crafting Experimentation experience, we realized that we need to spend more time than a single publish to truly accomplish our goal, which is to make combat fun and engaging. To have the depth to combat that I think everyone wants in the system we want get much more player feedback and balance on these types of things. We will be developing the Combat Balance separately in a Sandbox over a long period of time, with plenty of Test Center and correspondent participation. We will release this one when it is ready... and not before.
What does this mean? For four months now, our profession has been "balanced" with the upcoming changes in mind. Now they are being delayed and possibly never implemented at all.
Why couldn't our profession have been given this consideration before we were beaten into near uselessness?
I do not necessarily think we need to see a wholesale reversion of creatures to their previous states. Their stat progressions do make more sense (but still have their problems), and eventually things will be adjusted to match these creatures. I honestly can't say I have a solution because the solution is to complete the combat balance.
What I want to know, is why do we have to suffer for another six months (or much, much longer) to be brought into balance? Are their any plans to aid us until this now mythical "Combat Balance" comes to fruition? Is something going to be done for us since our changes were released before it was ready... well before?
*sigh*
so true.... *shakes head*
I fear that our issues will never be addressed. I want to stay a CH because i worked so hard to get it, but i feel extremely frustrated reading these forums, and it seems like our issues will go ignored. I've been so hesitant to post, because it appears that every issue that i would like to seeaddressed, has already been beaten to death to no avail. Why bother asking our opinion on anything it seems? Currently i am a MCH/Master Pistoleer, and only really use my creatures to get better missions. This makes me wonder if i should just accept that they, the developers, believe that CH's are not intended to be anything else than a support profession. I'm torn trying to decide whether or not i should just surrenderCH, rather than wait for this "balance" that will supposedly take place in the uncertain future? ILIKE my creatures though!!! *stamps foot and pouts!*
But until that happens, if ever, our pets are balanced for the "new" system while everyone else is playing under the old one. We knew this, but it was supposed to take two months, not a year.
I can live with being out of balance for a short period, but this is utterly unfair. That is why I want to know what is going to happen to make it up to us.
Vert here is the newest issue.
We really got slammed coming up on 4 months ago. If this last longer than 4 months to accomplish from here out we better be the next profession highlighted. This is totally unfair and intolerable. CH got combat rebalanced and now we are so skewed against we cannot compete. At this point there is no reason to believe that SOE has anything planned in good faith. They are just stringing this along until the mass exodus to WOW. I do feel sorry for their resumes. I HOPE TO GOD THEY ALL GET TRANSFERED TO JANITOR POSITIONS WITH 5.25 pay. Will serve them right and then maybe they will listen to people with common sense. They might as well learn to clean up some kind of mess while they work for SOE.
If I hadn't already decided to suspend my subscription this would have done it for me.
LOL Pluto,
You should look at the Blizzard boards and you'll feel right at home. Different words but not a lot of difference in the sentiments. SWG is far from perfect but it does what I want it to: takes my mind off the world and lets me relax.
/endfluff
Backing off the combat rebalance is inexcusable. I can't even imagine answering to someone about spending four months doing something and then tabling it. It seems the project management team has left the building. Or probably more accurately is working on the space expansion; after all, that's the next money maker that will drive not only its own sales but more of SWG as a whole.
I think the mantra of the industry today is 'lowered expectations'...
Greetings,
To put it lightly, I am very disturbed by this news. The more I think about it, the more upset I get. The entire creature base has been completely revamped with the expectation of a combat rebalance. When SOE announced the original idea, I was wary at best. I thought, "To begin with, this will take months upon months to accomplish. I bet we're the only class to get rebalanced." I saw this day long, long ago but hoped maybe someone had a good plan. There are moments I hate to be right. This is one of them.
With the creature rebalance, the whole con system has been thrown completely out of whack. I remember when a "YELLOW" con meant something to me. I knew I had a 50-50 chance of winning or getting DB's. Red cons meant, "Move along." Now I rarely even pay attention to red cons. Unless I have a group of 3 on me, chances are pretty good that I will be standing over their corpses.
I have always been critical of the creature rebalance. IMHO, only a few creatures needed to be rebalanced (like the Graul Mauler) to bring the game into more of an even keel. I welcomed the fact high end creatures were buffed up. I completely agree something needed to be done to the CH tree. I was all for reorganizing it to be rid of the dabblers who abused it. However, creatures have been globally weakened. Now we have some pretty overpowered combat classes with nothing of interest to fight unless you want join the hoardes of other players in whatever dungeon has most recently been added.
I believe CH has taken some serious hits as of late. I am not necessarily referring to the creature rebalance. Gaining XP for the class has become a horrible grind for anyone showing genuine interest in it. The availability of any decent wild creatures has been atrocious. Rare pets are just too rare put in harm's way, and as many others have posted here before, their stats are nothing all that special. For a few, their AOE attacks may be of interest. BE pets are better than those you can find in the wild by a wide margin. However, for me, they tend to be just about as difficult as rares to find and too expensive to replace. Meanwhile, players are allowed to run around with pets whose stats are clearly out of whack with their CL. Our specails require workarounds for them to function at all. The bugs we have been complaining about for months and new ones that have been introduced recently go unfixed. New mounts are great, but a mounts' functionality still stinks in comparison to speeders, and now they don't seem to function as pets. Even the new fix to the tamable flag has us questioning whther it is working correctly. All this, when combined with TH's p-o-k-e comments and lack of communciation from the devs has left an awful sour taste in our mouths. We have a right to be upset and angry.
Now that my hunt for rares is essentially over, I am finding fewer and fewer fun things to do. You can only do so much of the same thing before it gets boring. What's the difference if I have 6 vs. 5 million credits stashed in the bank? How many Bantha statues does one really need? How many times does one have to prove that you can kill Nightsisters, etc. ad nausem.
I don't want to try any other professions. I for one am very happy with my character. I have chosen. I don't want to do anything else. A friend with whom I had not spoken with in a long time asked how I was doing and which professions I was currently grinding. I simply said, " I have little to report in that department. I like my character the way he is, and I have seen very little reason to change". His response to that was, "Wow, I have mastered blah, blah, blah, and blah since that time."
JustG's declaration unquestionably demonstrates how badly SOE has dropped the ball on this game. All I can imagine is that more programers are needed on the expansion pack project, so further neglect of Live issues is required. This game seems like a greased roba to me. SOE just cannot get a hold of it. I liken this announcement to the entire Holocron debacle. SOE understimated what people would do to become Jedi and did not think the process through. The repurcussions of this have been felt for months. Only God knows how long the system will persist.
Anyway, I apologize for such a long post. It's announcements like this which make my heart cringe. I fear my days with Galaxies are numbered. Now all I need to do is find good homes for my rares and divide my wealth and stuff between my friends.
Good Luck to All,
Hi,
Let me state clearly, CH was not left out, everyone else was. We have be rebalanced (read nerfed into the stone age) while everyone else has basically been left the same.
We knew this was coming, when a skunk crosses the road ahead of you or behind you or even thinks of coming to the road, something always precedes it and linger long after. THE STENCH. The stench of the lie of rebalancing has been here a long time now we see the skunk as it finally crosses our paths. CH has been nerfed and everyone else has been ignored.
We are now one of the most borked professions in the game. Somehow I will try to keep playing but I am afraid that with this stench, this stinking attitude from the devs it really gets harder and harder to keep the faith.
I think it is time we DEMAND that they either pull the nerfs off, except for the CH tree restructure, or they rebalance the whole combat experience.
We support you VERT get in their faces for us please.
Pem,
No need to apologize for the length; you've captured my concerns as well. The failure of the combat rebalance to go through as planned is a major mistake by SOE. Once you've launched on something of this nature, where you severely change the playing field for some players as they did with CH, you need to see it through.
I know that circumstances change, but they've been saying to literally dozens of concerns, across the entire range of combat professions, "that will be addressed in the rebalance". Please be patient; we know about it, we're doing something about it.
Then this...the bare announcment that no, they're not going to fulfill their promisses to deal with these issues as they've been telling players and correspondents for months.
What pisses me off even more is the mindless adulation of far too many people to this "communication" from JustG that basically says "forget what we've told you since December...your concerns will not be addressed" and they lap it up like damn sheep. Then the fanbois onestar people who dare to speak and say that the devs are not wearing any clothes.