SWTOR Updates: Lots Of Juicy Info | Rock, Paper, Shotgun

"Next week’s update for Star Wars: The Old Republic is to be called Rise Of The Rakghouls, and plans to add some major new content to the game, focusing on story-heavy features. Senior Creative Director James Ohlen explained to us in an interview we’re posting very soon that along with “a lot of bug fixes and modifications”, there would be the titular new story-focused flashpoint, as well as expanding Karagga’s Palace to have five times as many bosses (five). And this is just the first of many updates they’re already working on. March promises a new planet, warzone, operation, guild banks… And then there’s the updates they’re already working on for next year. You can see the accompanying trailer below.


According to Ohlen, the entire SWTOR team is still working flat-out on content for the released game. Next week’s update is just one of many they’re currently working on, with another much larger patch planned for March. It will contain part two of Rise Of The Rakghouls, and an entire new planet containing an operation and warzone, as well as “the second half of the Legacy System, which is the real meat of it.”

March will also see the game update with guild banks and PVP ranking systems, and Ohlen promises another sweep of bug fixes and tweaks.

And they’re already working on updates we won’t see until next year, with the story written out. Ohlen didn’t want to reveal how many are currently planned, but he let slip they’re already working on the fifth. The voiceover work is already being recorded for next year’s content.

There are also plans for something called the Event System, for which details are not yet forthcoming. However, we did manage to prise out of Ohlen that it may include something relating to Warhammer’s social quests – where you unofficially group with whoever is around at the time to complete a non-instanced task – something that we were surprised didn’t feature in the game at launch.

As for whether SWTOR means we’ll never see another single player KOTOR game, Ohlen was tight-lipped. For now, he said, the entire Austin team is only focusing on SWTOR. But he did hint that after six years on the project, there’s a chance he’ll be wanting to do something new soon."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJjMex_iEIw

Looks pretty goddamn awesome and man they are pumping the content out holy ****balls

After reading the swtor forums they are so full of negatiity but really this game has been pretty close to perfect for me. They tweak a few minor things (starting with consumables) and it willl be great.

seems disappointing

So the one boss they have in Karagga's palace is still broken, but they think adding four new ones is the solution? Same goes for Flashpoints that contain numerous mechanics that have been broken since launch (or earlier).

I don't know. I really want to like this game, but having experienced a few weeks of what BioWare thinks endgame is already, I'm doubtful that I'll hang on to see what the product should have looked like at launch (i.e., what it will be in July).

Originally Posted by PoorDoggy

So the one boss they have in Karagga's palace is still broken, but they think adding four new ones is the solution? Same goes for Flashpoints that contain numerous mechanics that have been broken since launch (or earlier).

I don't know. I really want to like this game, but having experienced a few weeks of what BioWare thinks endgame is already, I'm doubtful that I'll hang on to see what the product should have looked like at launch (i.e., what it will be in July).

They had to release the game sometime. If they kept holding off the release to add features that "should have been there at launch," (a subjective, and entirely irrelevant sentiment) the game would never come out.

Originally Posted by ferret

After reading the swtor forums they are so full of negatiity but really this game has been pretty close to perfect for me. They tweak a few minor things (starting with consumables) and it willl be great.

what he said

Really, don't read the General Discussion. It's full of "i cancel nao" or "this game is lacking core mmo features like recount that have been in all mmos since 2000" trolls

OMG I CANT TOP THIS RAID BOSS WITHOUT MY DBM AND I CANT TELL WHO TO KICK SINCE I DON'T HAVE RECOUNT!!!! CANCEL!!

:p

yeah man, the general forums are ****ing terrible...some people's kids.....

i find the class forums are okay for the most part...you'll get your standard *****ing and crying but there's actually alot of good information and helpful posters

yeah the general forums are the exact opposite of what I've experienced so far.

no issues with framrate either and my main server has a huge population. that's one of the biggest whines I've seen over there.

the public quests in WAR were fun when you could get others to do them but sucked later in that game's development cycle because no one was around. still, I like seeing the option.

Originally Posted by Witch

Really, don't read the General Discussion. It's full of "i cancel nao" or "this game is lacking core mmo features like recount that have been in all mmos since 2000" trolls

OMG I CANT TOP THIS RAID BOSS WITHOUT MY DBM AND I CANT TELL WHO TO KICK SINCE I DON'T HAVE RECOUNT!!!! CANCEL!!

:p

To be fair, genre-standard features like combat logging being missing at launch is a pretty serious oversight. It is also outright stupid to design half (or more) of your encounters around beating enrage timers and then not give players any way to track their DPS. It's just one symptom of the fact that BioWare is still a single player developer trying to transition into multiplayer content (see also ME3's multiplayer). The evidence is everywhere. Hell, the GTN interface looks like it was designed by some database junky who had never actually used an MMO auction house.

Originally Posted by PoorDoggy

To be fair, genre-standard features like combat logging being missing at launch is a pretty serious oversight. It is also outright stupid to design half (or more) of your encounters around beating enrage timers and then not give players any way to track their DPS. It's just one symptom of the fact that BioWare is still a single player developer trying to transition into multiplayer content (see also ME3's multiplayer). The evidence is everywhere. Hell, the GTN interface looks like it was designed by some database junky who had never actually used an MMO auction house.

Sure sure, but have you taken a look at the GD? I mean, really.

Originally Posted by PoorDoggy

To be fair, genre-standard features like combat logging being missing at launch is a pretty serious oversight. It is also outright stupid to design half (or more) of your encounters around beating enrage timers and then not give players any way to track their DPS. It's just one symptom of the fact that BioWare is still a single player developer trying to transition into multiplayer content (see also ME3's multiplayer). The evidence is everywhere. Hell, the GTN interface looks like it was designed by some database junky who had never actually used an MMO auction house.

it sounds like you are having a l2p moment and/or experience some easy mode wow withdrawal.

I'm glad I'm playing the game for the single player game that it is so I can quit before worrying about all the endgame issues everyone's complaining about. I'll get my $60 worth from the content that (for the most part) works, then in 6 months if they've fixed endgame I can possibly revisit it again.

Originally Posted by Pagy

it sounds like you are having a l2p moment and/or experience some easy mode wow withdrawal.

My main is a healer. I specifically avoided rolling a DPS because without a way to gauge my own performance and see it improving over time, I'd feel fairly pointless.

As for easy mode, everything I've been able to to get a PUG for (the hardmode FPs + normal EV) has been far easier than WoW's content, though I admittedly quit before LFR difficulty was implemented. But the go-to mechanic for BioWare remains the enrage timer, and not including any combat logging alongside that mechanic is stupid.

Originally Posted by PoorDoggy

the go-to mechanic for BioWare remains the enrage timer, and not including any combat logging alongside that mechanic is stupid.

Why? When:

Originally Posted by PoorDoggy

everything I've been able to to get a PUG for (the hardmode FPs + normal EV) has been far easier than WoW's content

I see a lot of people throw these comments around. Your issue is that you're still thinking in WoW terms. The difficulty of encounters in TOR are relative to to mechanics of the game. Just as WoW's encounters have scaled in difficulty relative to the mechanics that are available in that game.

WoW players had to use a ton of addons and macros to get through raid enounters. I doubt there's any raider out there that plays with a vanilla install. When they migrate to TOR, they are stuck in the mentality that to succeed they need addons, because that's all they know.

You assume that the lack of damage parsers will hold back raid groups because they are incapable of improving without them. The truth is, the main thing that will hold back any group is dieing during an encounter. If you can keep everyone alive, I hardly doubt enrage timers will be much of an issue. And if they still are then it's a reflection of the group not having gear appropriate to the raid. You don't need logs.

Originally Posted by Atreides

I see a lot of people throw these comments around. Your issue is that you're still thinking in WoW terms. The difficulty of encounters in TOR are relative to to mechanics of the game. Just as WoW's encounters have scaled in difficulty relative to the mechanics that are available in that game.

What do you mean by mechanics? Almost any class mechanic you can think of is in the game. Warrior tanks, for example, are basically copied skill for skill. My Sorc healer has all the iconic Priest abilities. If by mechanics you mean things like the ability to see debuffs on raid frames, track buffs/debuffs without a magnifying glass, etc. then yes, I guess the game's "mechanics" limit what BioWare can do.

You assume that the lack of damage parsers will hold back raid groups because they are incapable of improving without them. The truth is, the main thing that will hold back any group is dieing during an encounter. If you can keep everyone alive, I hardly doubt enrage timers will be much of an issue. And if they still are then it's a reflection of the group not having gear appropriate to the raid. You don't need logs.

Clearly you haven't experienced this game's enrage timers. It isn't a "just heal through it" scenario when a raid boss enrages. Even some of the hardmode bosses start instakilling tanks when they enrage (e.g., Revan).

Maybe you are happy to turn off all the numbers in the game and just play for fun, and chalk up every wipe to "well, I guess our group just doesn't have the gear for this encounter." But you can still do that even with combat logging, and others can evaluate their performance and see if their rotation is putting them under their fellow class member by a margin that exceeds gear difference. Without combat logging, you have no way of knowing how your DPS (or your healers, or your tanks) are performing other than asking them "are you trying really hard this time?" I don't understand why this forced ignorance of basic game mechanics is being supported by so much of the playerbase.

GET OUT YOUR STOPWATCH

Originally Posted by PoorDoggy

What do you mean by mechanics? Almost any class mechanic you can think of is in the game. Warrior tanks, for example, are basically copied skill for skill. My Sorc healer has all the iconic Priest abilities. If by mechanics you mean things like the ability to see debuffs on raid frames, track buffs/debuffs without a magnifying glass, etc. then yes, I guess the game's "mechanics" limit what BioWare can do.



Clearly you haven't experienced this game's enrage timers. It isn't a "just heal through it" scenario when a raid boss enrages. Even some of the hardmode bosses start instakilling tanks when they enrage (e.g., Revan).

Maybe you are happy to turn off all the numbers in the game and just play for fun, and chalk up every wipe to "well, I guess our group just doesn't have the gear for this encounter." But you can still do that even with combat logging, and others can evaluate their performance and see if their rotation is putting them under their fellow class member by a margin that exceeds gear difference. Without combat logging, you have no way of knowing how your DPS (or your healers, or your tanks) are performing other than asking them "are you trying really hard this time?" I don't understand why this forced ignorance of basic game mechanics is being supported by so much of the playerbase.

so again, l2p...

playing with crutches like dps/agro meters and boss mods seem like such a bore.

it's a video game for **** sake... if you just want to turn your brain of and discect it, you have a seriously odd sense of fun.

I have no idea how anyone enjoys playing with dps or agro meters when it's much more challenging and rewarding to hold agro or dps hard enough without some easy mode bar telling you what to do and when.

hit an enrage timer? dps more. woah that was tough to figure out.

Most people haven't farmed raid content because they were too terrible to get in a guild in WoW because after years of a game being out they had to deal with known expectations of what a player of a specific class and gear can do. If you haven't farmed raid content you don't understand how the only thing that makes killing the same bosses entertaining is improving your performance from the last time, always trying to gain a extra percentage of damage. Maybe it was that one new piece of loot, or a minor spec change, or a patch that adjusted your class but you could compare the charts from previous weeks and see the difference recorded second by second.

Originally Posted by Pagy

I have no idea how anyone enjoys playing with dps or agro meters when it's much more challenging and rewarding to hold agro or dps hard enough without some easy mode bar telling you what to do and when.

hit an enrage timer? dps more. woah that was tough to figure out.

How does one tell others in their group how to dps more if they can't always tell who the weak link is? If you know who the weak link is and it's a matter of poor GCD usage, without a damage meter-type addon and combat logging how do you help that person make the leap from terrible to acceptable?

Without a way to tell how well your damage stacks up against others, you don't know if you're the one failing or if it's someone else. You could use every possible GCD even in WoW but if you aren't doing it well it will show in combat logs/meters/parses. If you're lagging behind you can then compare your output to others of the same spec and class and hopefully improve your rotation.

To better explain it, if I'm running the same spec in the same raid with the same buffs as another person we should have similar damage output for most encounters. When **** dies and I'm 10k DPS ahead of them I can look at their output and know that they ****ed up their rotation or spell priority. In SWTOR right now for all you know you're the one that's 10k DPS behind. When you can see people of other specs playing poorly (with damage meters) you start analyzing their damage breakdown with people of the same spec that play well and you can then help them. Without those tools, they can say that they finished their storyline to level 50 playing the way they do and assume they can do no wrong.

He's not asking for the game to play for him, just for some of the basic tools that allow people to evaluate their own performance and that of others so they can improve their experience in the game. Things like more visible buffs/debuffs should be a no-brainer, but the game shipped unfinished or some of us are foolish to think the game will have any success beyond the first 90 days after release.