Development Cycle Archive
Thread: Great Expectations, Major Schedule Changes and making SWG the finest MMORPG ever
Idolikeimperials
Mon Jul 19, 2004 7:38 pm
#2289
this saturday at 7pm CST out side coronet starport be their 
DarthBrundleFLY
Mon Jul 19, 2004 7:40 pm
#2290
Thunderheart wrote:
Great Expectations
There are great expectations (I have had those since beta 3 as of yet unfullfiled) in the community for the upcoming Combat Balance and the Galactic Civil War revamp. These announced upcoming major features are pivotal to making the Galaxies experience more of a Star Wars experience. To deliver on these major features, we will need the full development team and re-assembling the team isn’t going to happen until after the upcoming Jump to Lightspeed expansion is shipped.
Delaying these critical features was not something we are doing for our convenience, but only to ensure they are done well. The team leadership has been discussing these changes, the future of SWG and the feedback from the community. Clearly the community wants us to do a better job at delivering the game service and this reinforced our decision to make sure we have adequate resources on each update to the game.
At the core of the discussions are our team goals. The team’s goals are to increase the quality of the service, make the game more fun and accessible and finally to make a much more intense Star Wars experience. In this, we agree with the community that our design and implementation process should continue to be improved and we want to assure our customers that it is our goal to exceed their expectations and make SWG the finest MMORPG ever.
Rather than continue to split the team’s forces and try to accomplish too many goals, we’re going to do a few things and do them right. Once the Jump To Lightspeed is complete, the team as a whole will be re-grouped. Then the combined team will accomplish the Combat Balance, the GCW and all the other improvements to the game.
What’s Ahead
To offset this very big announcement that will affect all of you, I will be immediately working with the correspondents and the community to develop a list of pre-combat balance fixes to get combat into a more enjoyable state. This will encompass many items planned for the Combat Balance, and will happen in a steady stream between now and JTL. The Combat Medic and Bounty Hunter changes that are coming in Publish 9.1 are the first of these efforts. I find this very interesting in that you posted this on Friday and yet you state that publish 9.1 is upcoming...it went live on the Tuesday...how long have you been sitting on this announcement?
Between now and JTL is where I come in. Right out of the gate, Hmmmmmm.....right out of the gate, nice to see you are off to a good start, all day Monday we have been awaiting a response, any kind of response even to let us know you have been reading and taking our comments "on board" I’ll be working with the community to develop plans for the Combat Balance and post them on the site; we’ll do a few features and I will continue to post updates. Later we will do the same for the GCW, the Squad Leader Revamp and all of the community issues on the table. In this, we can marry community expectations and development goals in a way that has never been done before with online games.
Our next major update, Publish 10 will bring us “The Jedi Trials”. Finishing the revamp of the Jedi profession is a big task. Being a Jedi is a big part of the Star Wars experience (It's not a big part of the experience to me or a lot of my friends ingame who really dont care about jedi at all...you said at launch that jedi would be "rare" and that an "organic" system would be in place to keep the population way down...whatever happened to that idea?) and it is a big game system. To become a Jedi, there needs to be a known path with mysterious quests, new NPC’s, new NPC behaviors, new places and all the little things that will make The Jedi Trials a publish to be excited about. To accomplish this, the team has expanded the scope of publish 10 so there is more design time and more testing time (hence the big changes). Why so much time and effort beingput into a "rare" profession, that affects a small percentage of the player base, when the other professions from launch are still broken or even useless.Why isjedi being done "right" when the other professions that have been so called revamped get hack jobs and bandaids with the familiarwe will fix it proplerly in the CB/GCW revamp. And lets face facts the jedi revamp does nothing for those who do not have or are not interested in being jedi, but the CB/GCW will effect all who play the game...THE ENTIRE PLAYER BASE!
Not long after The Jedi Trials, we’ll be focused on the JTL Beta and integrating Space with the ground game. Meshing the live service with JTL is a big challenge since it means it will be the first time anyone has ever integrated a complete RPG and action Space game before. 1st thing i am really looking forward to the space expansion,I want it....BUT doI want an expansion that further delays the fixing of the "core" game...you didn't golive with Galaxies a few weeks or months ago, this game is no over a YEAR old and its still in no better shape than it was in beta. Thunderheart, you were in beta....do you not remember the outcries of the community back then that the game... WAS NOT READY for release. Why have betatesters at all if you are not going to listen to them.Also how will you intergrate succesfully the expansion into the core game when by your own acknowledgement the CB/GCW revamp is akin to making a console game ie. alot of things are broken, and youhonestly believe it will go smoothly.
The Jump to Lightspeed is currently on track for a later October launch, (As with launch the suits have set down a FIRM release date) which is a relatively short time away. Prior to that, we’ll be finishing up the Jedi Trials (Publish 10) and right after that, we will begin integrating the ground game with Space, start the JTL Beta Test and get on with making the game we all want to play. The good news is that the Jump to Lightspeed beta registration site is opening later this week
We appreciate your continued participation in the SWG community. Please continue to give us constructive feedback on our message boards as it helps us keep focused on your needs and priorities.
After watching Hayden Blackmans interview for JTL on Gamespot, please tell me he meant to say that the CB/GCW will be "EXPANDED" upon not that it would be an expansion (which is the word he used) that we will have to buy!
The original thread has been archived so community members can post their comments without feeling like it will be buried and never seen. You may reference the thread here.
Master Bounty Hunter
TechBoss
Mon Jul 19, 2004 7:45 pm
#2291
Idolikeimperials wrote:
this saturday at 7pm CST out side coronet starport be their
Might want to include server, which I am guessing is Bria based on your bio.
Bria has never known to be all that stable, so if your planning a sit in like the wookie thing, it defiently crash. Not that that's a bad thing.
Anyone who plans on attending should remember that new toons start out on Tattooine. You'll need 800 credits to get to Coronet.
TechBoss
Mon Jul 19, 2004 7:59 pm
#2293
DarthBrundleFLY wrote:
Thunderheart wrote:
Great Expectations
There are great expectations (I have had those since beta 3 as of yet unfullfiled) in the community for the upcoming Combat Balance and the Galactic Civil War revamp. These announced upcoming major features are pivotal to making the Galaxies experience more of a Star Wars experience. To deliver on these major features, we will need the full development team and re-assembling the team isn’t going to happen until after the upcoming Jump to Lightspeed expansion is shipped.
Delaying these critical features was not something we are doing for our convenience, but only to ensure they are done well. The team leadership has been discussing these changes, the future of SWG and the feedback from the community. Clearly the community wants us to do a better job at delivering the game service and this reinforced our decision to make sure we have adequate resources on each update to the game.
At the core of the discussions are our team goals. The team’s goals are to increase the quality of the service, make the game more fun and accessible and finally to make a much more intense Star Wars experience. In this, we agree with the community that our design and implementation process should continue to be improved and we want to assure our customers that it is our goal to exceed their expectations and make SWG the finest MMORPG ever.
Rather than continue to split the team’s forces and try to accomplish too many goals, we’re going to do a few things and do them right. Once the Jump To Lightspeed is complete, the team as a whole will be re-grouped. Then the combined team will accomplish the Combat Balance, the GCW and all the other improvements to the game.
What’s Ahead
To offset this very big announcement that will affect all of you, I will be immediately working with the correspondents and the community to develop a list of pre-combat balance fixes to get combat into a more enjoyable state. This will encompass many items planned for the Combat Balance, and will happen in a steady stream between now and JTL. The Combat Medic and Bounty Hunter changes that are coming in Publish 9.1 are the first of these efforts. I find this very interesting in that you posted this on Friday and yet you state that publish 9.1 is upcoming...it went live on the Tuesday...how long have you been sitting on this announcement? Never noticed that but it is a key point.
Between now and JTL is where I come in. Right out of the gate, Hmmmmmm.....right out of the gate, nice to see you are off to a good start, all day Monday we have been awaiting a response, any kind of response even to let us know you have been reading and taking our comments "on board" Just like the BH fix which was to hit live on Friday and then had it's release pushed out till Tuesday. While that isn't a huge difference, it is another date push. I’ll be working with the community to develop plans for the Combat Balance and post them on the site; we’ll do a few features and I will continue to post updates. Later we will do the same for the GCW, the Squad Leader Revamp and all of the community issues on the table. In this, we can marry community expectations and development goals in a way that has never been done before with online games.
Our next major update, Publish 10 will bring us “The Jedi Trials”. Finishing the revamp of the Jedi profession is a big task. Being a Jedi is a big part of the Star Wars experience (It's not a big part of the experience to me or a lot of my friends ingame who really dont care about jedi at all...you said at launch that jedi would be "rare" and that an "organic" system would be in place to keep the population way down...whatever happened to that idea?) Money > Marketing > Continuity and it is a big game system. To become a Jedi, there needs to be a known path with mysterious quests, new NPC’s, new NPC behaviors, new places and all the little things that will make The Jedi Trials a publish to be excited about. To accomplish this, the team has expanded the scope of publish 10 so there is more design time and more testing time (hence the big changes). Why so much time and effort beingput into a "rare" profession Managed to break ID, that affects a small percentage of the player base, when the other professions from launch are still broken or even useless Commando, Pistoleer, Carbineer, Bounty Hunter, Smuggler, Pikeman, etc..Why isjedi being done "right" when the other professions that have been so called revamped get hack jobs and bandaids Droid Engineer and don't forget all the nerfs and stealth nerfs with the familiarwe will fix it proplerly in the CB/GCW revamp. And lets face facts the jedi revamp does nothing for those who do not have or are not interested in being jedi, but the CB/GCW will effect all who play the game...THE ENTIRE PLAYER BASE! Don't forget a lot of the crap that has been added to the game where players go, "why should I even bother?" The answer from the DEVs has always been, "it's post combat balance balanced." See Mandalorian Armor, DE-10, executioners hack and RIS armor.
Not long after The Jedi Trials, we’ll be focused on the JTL Beta and integrating Space with the ground game. Meshing the live service with JTL is a big challenge since it means it will be the first time anyone has ever integrated a complete RPG and action Space game before. 1st thing i am really looking forward to the space expansion,I want it....BUT doI want an expansion that further delays the fixing of the "core" game...you didn't golive with Galaxies a few weeks or months ago, this game is no over a YEAR old and its still in no better shape than it was in beta. Thunderheart, you were in beta....do you not remember the outcries of the community back then that the game... WAS NOT READY for release. Why have betatesters at all if you are not going to listen to them.Also how will you intergrate succesfully the expansion into the core game when by your own acknowledgement the CB/GCW revamp is akin to making a console game ie. alot of things are broken, and youhonestly believe it will go smoothly. Money > brains.
The Jump to Lightspeed is currently on track for a later October launch, (As with launch the suits have set down a FIRM release date) SOE has to beat the competators to the MMORPG market as they know their game is crap. Thecompetators will own them in the market.which is a relatively short time away. Prior to that, we’ll be finishing up the Jedi Trials (Publish 10) and right after that, we will begin integrating the ground game with Space, start the JTL Beta Test and get on with making the game we all want to play. The good news is that the Jump to Lightspeed beta registration site is opening later this week
We appreciate your continued participation in the SWG community. Please continue to give us constructive feedback on our message boards as it helps us keep focused on your needs and priorities.
After watching Hayden Blackmans interview for JTL on Gamespot, please tell me he meant to say that the CB/GCW will be "EXPANDED" upon not that it would be an expansion (which is the word he used) that we will have to buy!I would not be surprised if the GCW/CB was always intended to be part of an expansion. Even if the player base is thrown a small GCW carrot, the majority of the meat of the GCW will undoubtedly be packaged in an expansion. All the Star Wars combat variables of vehicles and weapon installations make an enticing treat for a second expansion. Marketing has probably said, "why give them something for free that they will pay hard cash for?" The player base is over the figrutive barrel when it comes to this situation.
The original thread has been archived so community members can post their comments without feeling like it will be buried and never seen. You may reference the thread here.
ArashiSR
Mon Jul 19, 2004 8:13 pm
#2294
The only REAL reason that the Combat Balance and the GCW are not done is the fact the people needed (ie knowledge and ability) are doing the JTL and have been sence Jan or earlyer. Have you noticed that very few big changes have happened. But the cries Jedi Revamp was BIG!! Well True and it was and still is broken 
I am sure the Jedi Revamp was done by 1 coder with 1 or 2 assistant coders(ie Newbies or under trained) The biggest changes have been mostly Cosmedic in MUD (Merc,Diku,Rom,Rot etc) Terms 90%of the coders have been on JtL and all we have had for the last 6 to 8 months have been BUILDERS. Lets break it down a bit a few spare coders that where not skilled? enough for JTL and the Artists that cant draw ships very well 
and the people to design the areas for playing ie DWB. in MUD terms Area Builders (the cant as a rule adjust the code only edit strings). How many new weapons? Very few only the ones that dont need new art files other then the most minor of adjustments, But you say DWB the armor all new.... and most likely the art files have been in sence release all that was needed was to Activate it
and the people to design the areas for playing ie DWB. in MUD terms Area Builders (the cant as a rule adjust the code only edit strings). How many new weapons? Very few only the ones that dont need new art files other then the most minor of adjustments, But you say DWB the armor all new.... and most likely the art files have been in sence release all that was needed was to Activate it I have already canceled, and I will try it again if and when they finally get to the combat rebalance, but no worries I wont bother to hold my breath Sorry if it doent flow properly writing between commercial breaks at work. 
Sorry if it doent flow properly writing between commercial breaks at work. If i am way off wich i my be then Please give us a look into what EWV
then Please give us a look into what EWV
The only REAL reason that the Combat Balance and the GCW are not done is the fact the people needed (ie knowledge and ability) are doing the JTL and have been sence Jan or earlyer. Have you noticed that very few big changes have happened. But the cries Jedi Revamp was BIG!! Well True and it was and still is broken
I am sure the Jedi Revamp was done by 1 coder with 1 or 2 assistant coders(ie Newbies or under trained) The biggest changes have been mostly Cosmedic in MUD (Merc,Diku,Rom,Rot etc) Terms 90%of the coders have been on JtL and all we have had for the last 6 to 8 months have been BUILDERS. Lets break it down a bit a few spare coders that where not skilled? enough for JTL and the Artists that cant draw ships very well and the people to design the areas for playing ie DWB. in MUD terms Area Builders (the cant as a rule adjust the code only edit strings). How many new weapons? Very few only the ones that dont need new art files other then the most minor of adjustments, But you say DWB the armor all new.... and most likely the art files have been in sence release all that was needed was to Activate it
and the people to design the areas for playing ie DWB. in MUD terms Area Builders (the cant as a rule adjust the code only edit strings). How many new weapons? Very few only the ones that dont need new art files other then the most minor of adjustments, But you say DWB the armor all new.... and most likely the art files have been in sence release all that was needed was to Activate it I have already canceled, and I will try it again if and when they finally get to the combat rebalance, but no worries I wont bother to hold my breath Sorry if it doent flow properly writing between commercial breaks at work.
Sorry if it doent flow properly writing between commercial breaks at work. If I am way off base then please reply and give us a FULL DISCLOSURE of what EACH MEMBER of the DEV TEAM was doing on a monthly basis sence release, and how inportant they would be in doing the combat balance so we can get a better look into WHY after all this time ITS STILL NOT EVEN OUT OF THE BASIC PLANING STAGE. Not that I expect a reply
ArashiSR So many Great Expectations so few realizations.
KzinKiller
Mon Jul 19, 2004 8:15 pm
#2295
Even if the player base is thrown a small GCW carrot, the majority of the meat of the GCW will undoubtedly be packaged in an expansion. All the Star Wars combat variables of vehicles and weapon installations make an enticing treat for a second expansion. Marketing has probably said, "why give them something for free that they will pay hard cash for?" The player base is over the figrutive barrel when it comes to this situation.
If that were the case, they'd better pay their lobbyists a ton to pass harsh tort reform legislation in California, then ... because that would be the grounds for the biggest class-action lawsuit in gaming history. You think this game is unprofitable when 75% of the players quit, wait until you have to pay back every dime they ever paid you plus punitive damages ....
parlaquin
Mon Jul 19, 2004 8:15 pm
#2296
Hmm, I still think this is the best game out there. Cripes, I have plenty of fun the way it is, then again, I don't PvP. So, perhaps you PvP types have a point, I wouldn't know. Anyroad, just my 2 cents.
RaijinE
Mon Jul 19, 2004 8:19 pm
#2297
I'm reminded of an old axiom of war that any pleb in any military academy can tell you. "You win a war with boots on the ground." Wars(avid consumers) are not won(over) with an air force(twitch sim). They are won(over) with troops that eat up land and geography.
Fix the ground game. Then present the kick a$$ Space Sim we all know JTL is going to be. We know you can do a Space Sim. Show us you can do a MMORPG.
Respectfully...
ArashiSR
Mon Jul 19, 2004 8:27 pm
#2298
ICK .... I was attacked by our lovely Fourm board seems I have double posted in the same post
seems I have double posted in the same post sorry for that 
ArashiSR So many Great Expectations, so few realizations.
Aakhperkare
Mon Jul 19, 2004 8:43 pm
#2299
Atteke wrote:
JustG is still online so we may get the lecture very soon.
A lecture? From who exactly?From abunch of thieving liars that are too cowardly to respond to the uproar they created? They know what they can do with their lecture (_o_)
CreoVex
Mon Jul 19, 2004 8:47 pm
#2300
TH.... Quick Question...
WHEN DOES STAR WARS GALAXIES END BEING IN BETA???
I was in Pre-Box Beta and paid 15$ (disc and what they called shipping)for the game, then I had Box Beta which has been 50$ plus 15$ per a month....
Can we expect SWG is ready for release before2006 or should I just cut my looses and switch games now??
BTW, Don't fuel the machine by signing up for JTL beta, chances are they will charge you for the discs again as they did in Pre-Box beta for SWG.
-NightRaven (ingame)
Aakhperkare
Mon Jul 19, 2004 8:53 pm
#2301
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BlueCelt wrote:
BlueCelt wrote:
Still think its the worst idea and is a continued trend in misinformation. Refrencing a different post here I'm gonna post what has been said about the combat rebalance.
EDIT# This is not a slam on TH or any CSR type. Not their fault.
***********************************************************************
TH 12/8/03
There is content in the works, GCW stuff, the combat revamp...
************************************************************************
TH 12/23/03
I know a bunch of this is in development, but it really is . The combat system is being rebalanced and going forward, its important to get your critical issues to klawlegna so we can act on it. The big bottleneck is communication and after the holidays, a lot of this will be ironed out and smoother.
Instead of "fixing this" and "tweaking" that and ending up with a wobbly 4 legged table because so many number are over-tweaked, we are just revamping the system, but that takes longer.
************************************************************************
TH 12/23/03
The short answer is that these items will be taken care of in the weapons balance. Specials, weapon stratification and the like will all be accounted for
(what ever happened to the weapons balance????)
************************************************************************
TH 12/23/03
I could, but everything is getting revamped. Id be more interested in hearing what you folks have to say on how you WANT it to stack since we are doing the combat balance.
************************************************************************
TH 12/23/03
If its big, its coming in the revamp and the Combat Balance
************************************************************************
TH 1/16/04 (does this one sound familar)
We are going to be revamping PvP, but in the meantime, we have to make some killer fixes to keep what is in live now, fun.
************************************************************************
TH 1/23/04
The combat balance is near and dear to my heart as are all player issues. I just have to juggle time, manpower and scheduling as well. What I do is I keep track of all the issues, label them and sort them. That way when I go to Blair, JustG and Runesabre and say "players need this fixed", its based on how many players are being effected.
The combat balance alone is the single largest player issue. It encompases about 34% of the Correspondent issues and much of the pain combat players are having. Pikemen, carbineers, commando heavy weapons, the cost of specials, HAM costs, all of that will be better when the combat balance is done.
The thing to remember is that because the combat balance touches so many other systems in the game, its going to take a while. The team thats working on this is working very hard and thats the best I can offer.
**************************************************************************
TH 2/6/04 (holy cow...the combat revamp is mentioned INFRONT of the jedi revamp)
2. For PvP and Base battle folks, your time is coming. Once we get past the Combat Balance and the Jedi Revamp, the PvP balance is scheduled. Its a multi-publish update (roughly planned atm) where will consider battlefield possibilities, PvP upgrades and so on.
*************************************************************************
TH 1/28/04
There are lots of ideas for sure, but right now, the team is focused on the Combat balance, the GCW, the Jedi Revamp, Correspondent/CSR issues, the publish theme, getting the existing professions improved and the dungeons.
*************************************************************************
TH 1/19/04 (HAM revamp...assuming this is combat revamp)
The HAM revamp will address all of that. It will repair everyone's specials, it will solve the slow downs in combat and many other things. The challenge is that its a core game system and its going to take a bit because people from many different teams have to be involved.
**************************************************************************
TH 2/12/04 (ouch...when I first read this...I thought it might come back to haunt him)
One message that is load and clear is that the combat balance is very important and we all know it is. So that means we have to get the combat balance done and in and polished.
**************************************************************************
TH 2/13/04
For the most part, the combat balance is just coding atm
and this
There is much more to the combat balance. The biggest change you will see is in the way the HAM works. It will have more of a regen effect rather than a "diminishing returns" kind of effect. On top of this, defense stacking, specials and all of the combat "components" will be tweaked for more fun and challenging play
***************************************************************************
TH 1/21/04
No, the development for the combat balance is being done all along. The develpment time for things like this is longer than most players realize. The "In Concept" cycle for combat roles per se is so that if players have any really great ideas pertaining what defines a profession's combat role, it can be added.
Once the basic design is done and the combat balance moves to the In-Dev phase, things can be tweaked a bit, but no major additions can be included. I thought it was important to get players ideas on combat roles and the dev team agreed.
**************************************************************************
TH 2/13/04
I pushed very hard for the combat balance and the team agreed so basically they did the crackdown stuff and then did as much of the Combat Balance as possible. The combat balance items that were selected because they effected creatures so much. The first part of the combat balance was balancing the creature table
AND
I'll be preparing some Combat Balance stuff for next week that will help everyone get on the same page for going forward
***************************************************************************
TH 3/3/04
This is something Im checking to see if we can address in the weapon balance part of the larger combat balance, but I don't know what the answer might be. And in any event, concentrating on these minor things before the weapon balance isn't productive. We'll want to look at things when the combat balance is on TC
AND
Actually the game will be easier at the high end because the "invulnerable" templates will be fixed and all professions will be on a level playing field, but in any event, this is something we need to focus on after the HAM revamp goes to TC in Pub 8 and after the Combat Balance goes into effect (tentatively Pub 9 and holding...)
****************************************************************************
TH 4/12/04 (time for another meeting???)
We did have a meeting today and I fought hard to get the combat balance put back on the plate. By my reckoning, it represents about 35-40% of the player issues. Would you say thats a wrong direction? I'm always open to ideas that speak to the most players at any given time.
*****************************************************************************
TH 3/2/04
As far as combat template stacking, this is all part of the combat balance. I mentioned early on that we'd be going through a painful period and this is it. Once the HAM revamp hits the system (keep your fingers cross, it should be in Publish 8) all of these changes will make more sense. It will change the way combat plays and the majority of the discussion points regarding combat will change. Many players are still seeing the way the system was or is, and not as it will be.
The core interaction of combat pools will still work the same, but the way it feels in combat will be different. Once it goes to TC, Im hoping to see all the combat experts get online and play it out so we can tweak it - - it will be a critical period. I know Im anxious to see it
********************************************************************************
TH 4/13/04
Atteke wrote:
Thunderheart could you guys put the combat balance on Test Centre in it's current condition like you did with the new HAM system in January? just so we can take a look at it.
-Thanks
Not really. Not for now anyway. You see, if we put it on Test Center, we'd have to push it out in Publish 9 with the the way the process works. Once a clump of code is integrated, "its in there". Thats where the sanbox that we've been talking about comes into play. This sandbox would be like a second Test Center, but configured in a way where it would be insulated from the live code and we would be able to push different versions out much easier without interfering with current process.
*********************************************************************
TH 4/19/04
Originally, the Combat Balance was delayed and I worked with the correspondents to get a list of "must haves" from the various profession communities. Since that time, I've have stressed the importance of the combat balance with the team and we are getting it back into the mix, though as you might guess, the schedule is pretty full. Because of logistics, its going to take a couple weeks of information gathering on the technical side before we have a plan to move forward on. We will see the CB soon though.
***********************************************************************
TH 4/19/04
We're in the planning stages now. I want to help set expectations as best I can. At this early stage, I would make the following comments:
- The biggest change in the CB that will be a "sensation", and by that I mean something that players will
change them after the CB gets published.
5/0429/04
What will change is the mechanical balance - - especially with the HAM revamp portion of the CB
We can also further tweak the Smuggler’s combat role in the combat balance
The combat balance will bring elements of both to a Swordsman’s specials with the lions share of focus on re-tweaking the current specials to be more effective
These are two very important melee considerations for the combat balance
1 Answer to rule them all…
In closing, one thing that is very important to keep in mind is realistic expectations.The reality is that there are a huge number of player questions and answers that hang on the combat balance.What I don’t want to see happen is that because many questions revolve around a tight group of answers that the scope of the work gets expectations set so high that they are impossible to meet.We all have high hopes for the combat balance and the certainty that the Combat Balance is very, very important.We are putting a strong focus on special training and hardware to give the effort a leg up and will make this as cool as possible, but I wouldn’t look on it as a magic bullet, but more as an exciting change in direction.
*****************************************************
TH 4/22/04 (OUCH OUCH)
Why is it going to take more than a year post-launch to make this happen?
It's not. We've been talking about things internally a lot. I've stressed the importance of these changes and everyone agrees. We've been going over the implementation details for a couple of weeks now so that we can get this back on track. JustG will be going into more detail in his next State of the Game letter which will be coming out in the next couple of days.
******************************************************
TH 6/3/04
This is definitely a topic we can discuss further in our upcoming Combat Balance focus threads.
...and this is another great example of something the correspondents and I will want community input on during the testing while the CB sandbox is up.
This is an early answer and is subject to change, but one of our goals for Commandos in the Combat Balance is to change the way Heavy Weapon modifiers work
...but we wont know until the Combat Balance sandbox is live).
When the Combat Balance begins (which will be soon), the correspondents and some players will be brought on to a special Combat Balance server
Lightsabers have been balanced against the system after the combat balance
The most important component to this is to keep giving good, solid feedback to your correspondent so I can bring these opinions to the development team while the CB sandbox is live.
You can look forward to sweeping changes in terms of functionality, speed, etc.But again, I stress, we talk about this topic a great deal in a conceptual form.The rubber is going to meet the road when we bring the correspondents and other players onto the Combat Balance Sandbox server
Again, absolutely.These changes are the types of things we want to address in the Combat Balance
Squad Leader
What is the SL revamp timeframe?. It's still going take place after the combat rebalance, correct?
Its going to be released in the same publish
To answer your question though, this is something we can, and will, talk about during the Combat balance
Yes, Black Sun Razor Knucklers will be back in the game after the combat balance
****************************************************
TH 6/14/04
Waste93 wrote:
How about some info on the combat revamp. There are lots of rumors floating around on this one. And since the answer to just about every question the combat professions ask is "wait for the rebalance" it would be helpful.
Once we get through the Jedi Revamp, I'll be posting lots of thread. We'll have a lot of focus threads and the like and after P9, I'll start making the weekly roundtable have a CB focus to cover specific issues.
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TH 6/10/04
Weaponsmith
Are stun weapons going to see a major rebalance within the future?
Yes. Stun weapons (particularly stun batons) were never intended to be "the weapon" that everyone wants because it is the most effective. SWG’s weapons were always supposed to have a variety of useful and efficient weapons available, but here again, with all the tweaks and changes over the last 8+ months have caused a series of imbalances. This is definitely something that will be looked at during the combat balance.
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96)?96:"
TH 7/15/04:
I will be immediately working with the correspondents and the community to develop a list of pre-combat balance fixes
Gary Gattis's State of the Game Letter (around pub 8!): We are cranking on the Combat Balance, and we think development on it will span 2 more publishes.
Gary Gattis's State of the Game Letter (around pub 8!): We are cranking on the Combat Balance, and we think development on it will span 2 more publishes.
So...which is it? Were we lied too? mislead? or ???
Message Edited by BlueCelt on 07-16-2004 07:26 PM
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Just incase you devs (especially you TH) forgot. I thought I'd post this again for your convienience. No need to thank me.
So many lies...