Development Cycle Archive
Thread: State of the Game... more info...
I can foresee a large number of the existing Jedi quitting if the new system nerfs existing Jedi. I can foresee a large number of wannabe-Jedi quitting if the new system nerfs future Jedi.
It's a lose-lose situation.
JustG, whileI completely agree with you that when implementing the combat balance, you need to make sure it is done properly. The problem is that time is no longer on your side. Case in point:
1) Several professions have been purposely broken, by you, under the current existing combat scheme in preparation for a comabt system, and a HAM system that were originally intended to be in place over a month ago.
2) Any questions regarding combat changes are always replied with, and even today for heaven's sake, "All your issues will be addressed in the combat balance." I know that sentence by rote because I've seen it repeated incessently. The problem is, how can you possibly justify not answering the community's questions because it will be fixed in the combat balance, when the combat balance may not actually come for months on end?
3) The only real possible effect delaying such a balance is going to have, is going to be to either delay several other changes/improvements, or causing any changes to professions to either be worthless now, or worthless once the combat balance does go into effect. Case in point: Squad Leaders. Bless their souls, these poor guys have been waiting since before launch to be fixed and working properly. As it stands now, under your tenative schedule, they should be fixed sometime around August more than 1 year after the game has launched. But even when they are revamped, how can you possibly revamp a combat squad leading profession properly when the combat system itself is in flux?! You can't, which means likely the SL revamp will either be considered a dissapointment to the entire SL community, or it will be delayed. But no worries, "It will all make sense once the combat balance is fully realized."
4) Speaking as a Master Ranger and one since the game went live here, there is no evidence that the dying professions of Scoutand Ranger are going to be receiving any signifigant and needed revamps under your time table(as an aside I'm glad you are helping the Entertainer professions though, they are in the same boat as us, at least one of us is getting some love). We have had promises on the table since August, no significant revamps, adjustments, etc. The only thing we have been told for months now is to be patient. I'm sorry JustG, but the patience of the entire Ranger and Scout community is at an end. The few of us who are still willing masters(yes thats right willing, I know of 3 other master Rangers other than myself on Chilastra who aren't there because of hologrinds) have either abandoned all hope of anything ever being done, or just out right quit the game. Delaying the combat balance, andits side effect ofdelaying all these other changes due to your constantly having to devote development time towards it, can only mean that it will not be until Christmas, over one year since we last received any feedback, that anything, if anything, will be done. I'm sorry JustG, but I don't know how many Rangers will be able to hold out that long. Sad thing is, the game probably wouldn't even notice if we were gone.
In conclusion, I completely understand and agree with your desire to ensure that the combat balance and any future changes are quality updates. You, however, have a serious dilema, you and your development team are running seriously out of time. The excuse to be patient, when patient means over a year's wait, is not going to fly with this community much longer. I can't help but feel like the real reason the combat balance is being delayed, is not because you want to ensure its quality, but because its the only back up you and your team have left because you are overworked and under-manned.
I don't blame any of you for these delays, I know fora fact you are all working as hard as you possibly can. But, I'm telling you straight up, unless you get some more man power, and unless more significant and wide sweeping improvements come to this community and soon, its all going to come apart, Space Expansion or no. The clock is ticking, and the constant and continuous delays on everything are begining to make it look like you are going to run out of time before you cross the finish line.
Limbonik wrote:
You also notice how they 1 star us into oblivion, and yet fail to post anything at all in this thread? They're just trying to keep the minority looking like the majority.
And yet you freaks did it again.
Fine. I will continue to spam this thread until they remove the 1-star blocking of posts. If you can't post something constructive to the topic of the thread, you shouldn't be allowed to 1-star.
Well I haven't been around this site in awhile. Definately a different message board.
From the State of the Game
Death Watch Hideout Opens
According to Shug, the Death Watch are an offshoot of the Mandalorians, the ancient group of mercenaries who were all but wiped out by the Jedi long ago. Fortunately, the Death Watch still survives, and this adventure will allow players the chance to battle these rogue Mandalorians and collect some very special loot!
I remember the good ol' FAQ from the early Dev days.
6.15 Will Mandalorian armor be an attainable item in the game?
Yes. However, in Star Wars continuity, Mandalorian armor is extremely rare. We’ll try to reflect that in the game.
hmm? I wonder what the special loot is?
JediJMan wrote:
It shows another level of UNPROFESSIONAL too if the developers truly have their level set to not see 1 star posts. It wouldn't surprise me.
I have it on good authortity that this is NOT the case, that the devs have turned off the star-system filter for their browsers.
So the fanboi thugs are not being as effective as they think they are.
I just want to say: Rock on! Thanks for the awesome info and actually communicating what all is in the works. It is definately a hopeful sign! I cannot wait for the SE and know ya'll will do great!
I'm gunna come buy you all dinner or something 
-- J
The combat balance is another massive overhaul. We want to get a lot of player feedback from it, and make sure we have it right before we put it in the game (to avoid another Crafting Experimentation situation).
Just so I'm clear on this. The previous two months of nerfs and changes (INCLUDING the chef revamp which was supposed to be "more effective once the combat changes happen) are now.. on hold?
When bleeds were altereed, we were promised that "it will all be better once the combat balance is done".
The Pikeman profession is.. interesting. And we were promised that "it will all be better once the combat balance is done".
The Chef profession is missing key foods (not drinks) that buff Str+Qui+Foc and Con+Sta+Wil and we're told that it won't matter because "all will be better once the combat balance is done".
The Warcry change happened and again, we're promised that "all will be better once the combat balance is done".
Defense stacking.
Weapon certification shifts.
and so on.
All of these major fundamental changes happened on the grounds that they were part of a grand scheme and that the third month of changes (Publish 8) would see everything tied in together and working in a unified design.
Maybe I'm alone when I say this, but I'm getting tired of being mislead. We were told that there needed to be change to combat. Big change. So big that you, the developers, were going to need to seriously look at what needed to change. And that process was going to take an entire month to complete. Once you had decided on a plan of attack, you would roll out those changes over the course of 3 consecutive months. And all would be right with the world, at least as far as combat goes.
What happened?
Limbonik wrote:
JustG wrote:I'll respond to some of the more popular questions about the State of the Game here:Why is the Jedi Revamp being done before the GCW revamp?Two reasons: First, the GCW revamp is a long-reaching, complex set of changes. It will take awhile to define, design, and implement it. Along the way, each publish, we are working on fixing broken things with the GCW to make it more fun. The large overhaul is a mid-term goal. Second, we really want to stop the hologrind. We feel that AFK macroers are not healthy for the game. We want it to stop as soon as we can. And yes, we are aware that we are the ones that put the system in place. This was not what we intended, but things have evolved to this point.So what you're really saying is: "The Galactic Civil War for all intents and purposes has been broken since the start of the game and we've known this...yet have done nothing to begin implementation with a new system."
Points:
- GCW broken since release.
- You all have been aware of this.
- You all have done nothing to work towards fixing this yet.
- You still consider Jedi more important than all of us from Day 1(2) who are desperately waiting on this update. You assume since you've made us wait since Day 1(2), that another few months doesn't matter to us.
- You will fix Jedi first, even though there are professions from Day 1(2) that have needed fixing moreso than 4% of your customer base. (Smuggler, Pikeman, Commando, Droid Engineer.)
I guess what I don't understand is: If something has been severely broken and/or crippled since the very first day of release, why is it not being given the priority to be fixed? Why continue to let us customers suffer who have had to deal with this since Day 1? Is our money not as good as the 4% of the servers that are Jedi? Because if you answer "Of course your money is just as good as the 4% who are Jedi" - you sure aren't proving it to us.
Okay, here's an idea:
Knock it off with all the new content!!!!!!
We don't need new content when there is still old content that is broken!
We need bugfixes, hotfixes, profession fixes before we need something like freakin' Mandalorian armour. We need the Galactic Civil War fixed before the Jedi get special treatment again. We need game breaking stuff fixed before we get another "Ooooh, Ahhhhh" dungeon.
Have you even looked at the state of this game, let me refresh peoples' memories.
- Armour holes
- FD base shutdowns
- Covert base shutdowns
- Dead base shutdowns
- Combat Medic throwing farther than 64m
- Base times migrating
That's just a fraction of things that have plagued us since the first day of this game! And yet you guys focus on other *cough* "priorities", and the rest of the system fails. Doesn't anybody get that?
Look we know how many people have quit this game since release. We also know they outnumber the new subscribers. But still all your priorities are messed up! DeathWatch? Star Destroyer? Jedi?
Somehow, it just doesn't feel like Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided - it feels like Star Wars Galaxies: A Jedi Coddled.
Sorry for the rant, but I feel I've spent just as much money on this game as others have. And we're sick and tired of watching the whole "majority > minority" thrown out the window when it is needed most.
HAHA! Resurrected!