Development Cycle Archive
Thread: Community Relations Follow-up
Novock wrote:
Calandryll_SOE wrote:
Novock wrote:
Bisola wrote:
The trolls have taken over! Run!!
Too late we have all the exits blocked............... MUHAHAHA!!
I know how to unblock them.
Seriously, as I've said before, I understand that people are upset. The CU update won't answer every question that people have about the CU. It's a starting point that will give a high level overview of where we are headed now and as the basis for future updates that will have more details.
I'll be honest I'm hoping you are taking lead on the issue of communication regarding the CU. It still sounds like you are going to telll us no more than what we have already heard which will be a let down not matter how wonderfully worded it is. If thats the case our hope then is that real information will be quick to follow. We have been waiting since the correspondent summint in August 2004 for details on this revolutionary change to everything we know. renamed in Octopber again left waiting. End of the year came no word nor details again left hanging. End of Deecember comes SOE_Tyrant makes this big studio update and tells us CU details will be coming out in January. I hope you truly understand what we are expecting and desiring and hope that this update will be atleast something of value for our 5 month wait nevermind all the time previous to the summit.
Anyway I'm waiting for you to throw my pessimism out the door and for you to show us the action behind all the talk you have made in the post about changing and communicating better. I am ready to be wrong and desiring to be wrong on this issue. I'm wanting so despreatley to herald your name and SOE be able to look forward again to playing the game as i once did before the Jedi/EQ wars we have now. Make me a believer again Cal!!!
Well, I can tell you that the update includes more details than this updatedoes. Again it's not going to include everything, but it does give a good overview of many of the updates and changes as well as overall direction. It's important for us to start with an overview before filling in details.Following updates will include more specific information.
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'llbe preparing some Combat Balance stuff for next week thatwill 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.
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
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.
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.
5/04
29/04
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?
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.
*******************************************************************
TH 6/10/04
Weaponsmith
Are stun weapons going to see a major rebalance within the future?
AnXdiety wrote:
jcrules3333 wrote:
Calandryll_SOE wrote:
Novock wrote:
Bisola wrote:
The trolls have taken over! Run!!
Too late we have all the exits blocked............... MUHAHAHA!!
I know how to unblock them.
Seriously, as I've said before, I understand that people are upset. The CU update won't answer every question that people have about the CU. It's a starting point that will give a high level overview of where we are headed now and as the basis for future updates that will have more details.
/sigh, Well thats all I want for one.... so... hrmm..lets see... Friday.. Man... thats another 3 days /shrug, if I have survived this far not knowing I suppose I can wait another 76 hours or so.
Actually if you read a little closer it shall have to be tomorrow for the overview. Since the chat is scheduled for Wednesday. Unless they drop the overview on Wednesday just before the chat and not leave us more than a couple hours to absorb whatever information they do give us.
To further expand on my previous post in this thread is why are 200+ players elevated above the rest of us that have full access to the documents and the information currently any different from the rest of us that pay the same money per month?
Were you asking your self this question when Beta 1 was going onand Beta 2 and then Beta 3? or how about JTL Alpha, or Beta. People were chosen from their correspondents to help test the first stages of the CU just like ANY other type of game relase it is done in phases Internal QA, Alpha, Beta, open Beta, Release.
NeoCai wrote:Are you going to address this list of constant excuses and misleading statements from you the Developers. Heck even a simple apology for a year + of misleading.To be frank, you owe us explanations. Detailed updates. You have not shown an ability to follow up on your statements. Below is a collected list of statements going back a year.Thread Begins.........................Here is why some of us are soooooooooooooooooooo upset right now. You tell us to not make the combat revamp up to be some holly grail of fixes but you have been pumping it up for around a year now.I am sure if I dig around I can even find other DEV's that mention it too...***********************************************************************TH12/8/03There is content in the works, GCW stuff, the combat revamp...************************************************************************TH 12/23/03I 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 atmand 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 tableAND
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 TCAND
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.-ThanksNot 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 4/19/04We'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.
5/04
29/04
What will change is the mechanical balance - - especially with the HAM revamp portion of the CBWe 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 6/3/04This 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 serverLightsabers have been balanced against the system after the combat balanceThe 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 serverAgain, absolutely.These changes are the types of things we want to address in the Combat BalanceSquad 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.
*******************************************************************
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
Cal, there are a LOT of lessons to be learned from reading those quotes. I don't complain about the game often, and I am not going to now. I just hope you read the quoted post carefully and maybe take it to your next staff meeting. It speaks volumes.
Calandryll_SOE wrote:
It's important for us to start with an overview before filling in details. Following updates will include more specific information.
Once again, I am not trying to harp, but I would like to disagree. An overview is not where a design process should start. The information in the link is actually, for the most part, meaningless.
As an example, what if I said this is what I am going to do next. I am going to suggest we design a car that next iteration in design. It is going to be robust, supportive, and positive to the user experience. It must complement the driver's needs through superior handling. It must make the driver have at his control with necessary accessories.
What did the above paragraph say to you? Do you think it is going to be a good car? What is supportive? It is a car that is engineered so well is doesn't break down or a car that uses standard, common parts so it is easily repaired? Is supportive car that can pull a trailer or hold five occupants well? Does superior handling mean that the car has very sensitive handling to allow for controlled maneuvers or lose control to handle over-corrected behaviors or does it mean the vehicle has four-wheel drive? Does accessories mean it should have a lot of power sockets or that it must have a tail hook?
These are very feel-good words, but they are design ambiguous works. Again, I seriously suggest that this is SOE is consistently on the wrong design philosophy. SOE has had 1.5 years to break the circle of design, and I have not seen anything that leads me to expect that any transformation has occurred away from the status quo. This a textbook case of active inertia. Again, there are materials that can help SOE.
Beldraen wrote:
Calandryll_SOE wrote:
It's important for us to start with an overview before filling in details. Following updates will include more specific information.
Once again, I am not trying to harp, but I would like to disagree. An overview is not where a design process should start. The information in the link is actually, for the most part, meaningless.
As an example, what if I said this is what I am going to do next. I am going to suggest we design a car that next iteration in design. It is going to be robust, supportive, and positive to the user experience. It must complement the driver's needs through superior handling. It must make the driver have at his control with necessary accessories.
What did the above paragraph say to you? Do you think it is going to be a good car? What is supportive? It is a car that is engineered so well is doesn't break down or a car that uses standard, common parts so it is easily repaired? Is supportive car that can pull a trailer or hold five occupants well? Does superior handling mean that the car has very sensitive handling to allow for controlled maneuvers or lose control to handle over-corrected behaviors or does it mean the vehicle has four-wheel drive? Does accessories mean it should have a lot of power sockets or that it must have a tail hook?
These are very feel-good words, but they are design ambiguous works. Again, I seriously suggest that this is SOE is consistently on the wrong design philosophy. SOE has had 1.5 years to break the circle of design, and I have not seen anything that leads me to expect that any transformation has occurred away from the status quo. This a textbook case of active inertia. Again, there are materials that can help SOE.
I provided that link to make sure people knew the update will have more information than what is in that link. I think you will find that the overview update has a bit more detail than the example in your post. Right now we're kind of going in circles on this issue since you haven't seen the update and I can't post it yet. I just sent an updated version after getting some feedbackso hopefully we can get it approved asap.
It should give a good account of the direction of the combat upgrade along with some specific examples, but it won't include everything.
NeoCai wrote:Are you going to address this list of constant excuses and misleading statements from you the Developers. Heck even a simple apology for a year + of misleading.To be frank, you owe us explanations. Detailed updates. You have not shown an ability to follow up on your statements. Below is a collected list of statements going back a year.Thread Begins.........................Here is why some of us are soooooooooooooooooooo upset right now. You tell us to not make the combat revamp up to be some holly grail of fixes but you have been pumping it up for around a year now.I am sure if I dig around I can even find other DEV's that mention it too...***********************************************************************TH12/8/03There is content in the works, GCW stuff, the combat revamp...************************************************************************TH 12/23/03I 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 atmand 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
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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.
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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 tableAND
I'll be preparing some Combat Balance stuff for next week that will help everyone get on the same page for going forward
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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 TCAND
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...)
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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.-ThanksNot 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 4/19/04We'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.
5/04
29/04
What will change is the mechanical balance - - especially with the HAM revamp portion of the CBWe 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.
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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 6/3/04This 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 serverLightsabers have been balanced against the system after the combat balanceThe 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 serverAgain, absolutely.These changes are the types of things we want to address in the Combat BalanceSquad 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
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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
QFE
AnXdiety wrote:
Something I am highly curious as to is why there is a need for an NFA regarding the CU documents and its path. The number 1 cause of community discontent is that soo much of the heated debates and issues are around things that are not fully clarified. If you are doing the current Alpha/Beta the same as it was for the expansion then you would already have forums hidden under layers here currently. Why not make those forums read only for all members of the community. Just make sure we sign in and then we could only read the Combat Upgrade forums. This can be accomplished because a month after this game went live these forums themselves were shut off from all public access. Why not do the same thing for the Combat Upgrade rather than having to deal with all the legal issues and NDAs and such?
Let us create our own hype regarding the CU. Rather than having us try to trust you guys when you say things like "This will be cool" we would start our own speculation and build our own hype based on the information. When you had brought all the correspondants in for their free vacation to demo JTL and show them the CU documents they all came back giddy as school kids on a sugar high. The problem is that they couldn't tell us anything. Share the candy and let us all be giddy and discuss the future of the game. The current discussions and debates on most forums are the same cries and lost hope from over a year ago.
People won't be able to post about the CU in the CU forums but they'll post about it somewhere else, for example in the fiting professions forum.
I can already imagine the threads that WILL be cause by your idea:
"READ CU FORUM - CMs ARE DOOMED! PETITION!!!1111"
Combat will stay horrible if you let the "shouters" again decide whats good and what is not. I trust the corresspondants to be able to view combat as a whole and not just from their professions point of view. However, i don't even trust the common forum screamer to know his own professions well so i would not (and once you see the consequences your surel won't want either) to have forum trolls to be the deciding force in the developement of the combat balance.
So i beg you, whoever is responsible for the CU forums. For the sake of the game DO NOT DO THAT!
DeQuosaek wrote:
But what you are missing is that he didn't double slice the pistols, so there was nothing to bug. He attempted to and failed. The system was working as intended and he couldn't double slice. So, no bug, no exploit. Maybe they went back and scanned the chat logs to see when anyone mentioned double slicing and went off that info.
Maulibaer wrote:
RoadBurner wrote:
I was a smuggler, and one of my smuggler friends tells me saying to come to location A. I ask why, he says we are gonna test something.
So i meet him and some other friends. This was during the multislice exploit period. To make the story short, we experimented with multi slicing. However we were not able to produce it, and failed at double slicing the few pistols we tried. This was in November 2003. I am oblivious to whats going on primarily cuz I have never heard of the multi slice and I really had no idea what was going on.
On January 6th, 2004 I check my RL email and see a message from SOE saying my account is banned. In shock, I check it and I have been banned for multislicing. Ok, I try to fight it. I email customer service, and it goes all the way to Bruce Economy. He said no, but the shocking thing about what he said was that "Our records show you multisliced at least 10 items."
Now that is either A) A lie. or B) Faulty Data.
We ATTEMPTED 3, maybe 4 pistols. And FAILED. And 2 months later I get banned for it? SOE NEVER told us about the exploit, even if it was an exploit to be warned about. I get banned for something as innocent as being part of a failed attempt at testing multislice.
Cal, my old account name is OmicronPersei, if you can do research you can see my emails to CSR, and how they ignored me.
Only one question: Did you /bug it at the time? Then you could have said you only tested it for that, or better you could have sendt a message to a csr and give him the pistols.......
You did it not, so you have done an exploit......
Hmmm......is the failed attempt to exploit an exploit????A very philosophical question, indeed......
Lets see: I try to shoot someone in the head, but I miss him, are I'm guilty or not????
Novock wrote:...
Calandryll_SOE wrote:
Heh. Well we are working on a CU overview update to get things started and serve as a basis for the upcoming Developer Chat and future CU updates. That's in addition to the FF.
The developer chat is scheduled for Wednesday, January 19, 2005 at 7PM CDT. That's 1 Day, 14 Hours, 38 Minutes from this post. I would really like to be able to read this and digest it before the chat happens, so I can ask meaningful questions, rather than stuff that's already been answered.
Please, let us know when this is up.
