tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538233114133115363.post2462707457125936230..comments2024-03-26T20:47:12.919+00:00Comments on Going Commando | A SWTOR Fan Blog: The Future of CXP?Shintarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16758343475446510635noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538233114133115363.post-72576196620289596012017-08-01T06:41:46.092+01:002017-08-01T06:41:46.092+01:00The "dead" levels are only there because...The "dead" levels are only there because they removed ability ranks. If they had left them in, we'd still have something to be excited about every time we ding! :P<br /><br />And I do see your point but I suspect that never increasing the level cap again would still be perceived as a bad thing for the game overall. I think your view of it being "for the good of the game" is too heavily coloured by your own dislike for levelling. :)Shintarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16758343475446510635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538233114133115363.post-82060557439517728032017-08-01T01:01:48.487+01:002017-08-01T01:01:48.487+01:00The problem with raising the level cap, is that yo...The problem with raising the level cap, is that you have to "Fill" the levels. And there's already too many "dead levels" in advancement. In fact, with the new auto-levelling, almost every level feels "dead." I've levelled 8 or so characters from 65 to 70, and every one it was chore to be dreaded and done with, there was no per-level reward that came with the level cap increase. And in the previous level cap bumps I've been at cap for (55-60, 60-65, and 65-70), none of them felt that exciting. The levelling process is the most tedious part of the game for me; to the point that I run screaming at level cap with a boost enabled and doing all the optional stuff I can (now with the DvL XP boost armor YAY), and enjoy myself at level cap knowing I have a complete character (especially now that you can get set bonus without doing ops or PvP, though I did do a fair amount of PvP while leveling in the before time)<br /><br />Plus, adding abilities makes it harder to balance the game.<br /><br />I'm not saying leaving the level cap at 70 is what people want, I'm saying that's what they look like they're doing for the good of the game, to avoid increasing complexity.Ian Argenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03704336044732061128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538233114133115363.post-40543042175031971532017-07-28T20:32:33.444+01:002017-07-28T20:32:33.444+01:00That's an interesting idea, and I'm not su...That's an interesting idea, and I'm not sure how I'd feel about it if they implemented it like that. I feel differently about gear than I do about levels, and I expect I'm not the only one.<br /><br />I just can't really see them being that "radical". Many people like having new levels to gain, and increasing the level cap is an established way of offering more character advancement.Shintarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16758343475446510635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538233114133115363.post-74753876116908200062017-07-28T20:29:05.333+01:002017-07-28T20:29:05.333+01:00Who says the entire team agreed that it was a good...Who says the entire team agreed that it was a good idea? Ultimately it only mattered what the main decision maker(s) thought.<br /><br />And Ben wasn't fired, he moved on to a different Bioware project. Though yes, even though we don't know for sure I strongly suspect that this was related to how negatively Galactic Command was received.Shintarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16758343475446510635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538233114133115363.post-20209227788809964312017-07-28T17:08:47.916+01:002017-07-28T17:08:47.916+01:00I don't think they're going to bother to r...I don't think they're going to bother to raise the level cap ever again as long as they have GC. And why should they? Note the last two times they've raised the character level cap, they really didn't add any "new" abilities on top of the old ones, they just spread the abilities out. (More or less, anyway). <br /><br />Raising the level cap is a way to reset the "end-game gear level," as noted, but by putting "gear access" into a separate end-game levelling system, they've obviated the need to raise the character level.<br /><br />What I would do when it comes time to raise the gear cap? Nothing; which is what BW did for the last gear cap increase. (What?!?) Well, let's look at the current GC system post the gear-cap increase. It's got 3+1 levels (Levels 1-3, and "post-300"), with distinct tiers of gear. There's currently 4 tiers of gear; with "tier 1" being purchasable with "Command tokens" and everything else either dropping from bosses, command crates, or being bought with Unassembled components. All end-game content in the game is scaled for use with these 4 tiers of gear. Come the next gear cap increase, the easiest solution is to bump everything down a notch: current "tier 1" gear falls off the "CT vendor," to be replaced by Tier 2, and everything else steps down a vendor, with the new "BiS" gear arriving on the Tier 4 vendor to be bought with tier 4 methods. Crafting cap increases, but that's divorced from levelling already. Stat inflation in the levelling content is addressed by level cap (more or less). Everybody gets set back a step in their progression, but, assuming the gear cap increase is accompanied by new group content, that more or less happens anyway. We lost the concept of "raid on farm" remaining the case when all the raids were normalized to level cap (and now GC gear cap), and I doubt we'll get it back. And I, personally, am OK that at least conceptually there are no raids my cat can solo, because his character is mechanically immune to damage.<br /><br />It took a lot of rough road to get there, but we have a sustainable model of Comms gear (current Tier 1), SM/HM/NiM gear (tiers 2-4), and when the gear cap bumps up, everything slides down a notch but the theory remains the same. The treadmill effect is a little more visible, but it cleanly separates "end-game" from "levelling" content and gearing.Ian Argenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03704336044732061128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538233114133115363.post-1861911690966289772017-07-28T10:57:01.082+01:002017-07-28T10:57:01.082+01:00Yes, of course. I know. But -pardon my language- h...Yes, of course. I know. But -pardon my language- how the hell is it possible, that an entire BW-Team thinks, that a gearing system, depending only on RNG, is welcomed by the players? How is it possible?<br /><br />As i say, "SOMETIMES i suspect". Because i honestly don't know, that a whole bunch of brainy human beings, can come up with such an idea.<br /><br />I guess, that's why Ben Irving got fired and Keith Kanneg took over?!?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538233114133115363.post-13032650729482317122017-07-28T06:49:32.685+01:002017-07-28T06:49:32.685+01:00I don't believe it works like that; that sound...I don't believe it works like that; that sounds way too "conspiracy theory" to me.<br /><br />In video games there is definitely such a thing as bad publicity, and I've never seen a game get praised for reverting a bad change in the way you describe, except maybe for Final Fantasy XIV's relaunch, but it would be absurd to claim that they intentionally made that a bad game first just to get good publicity later. Most of the time it's actually the opposite: A bad change is likely to cling to the game's reputation like a stain and people will continue citing it as a reason not to play said game long after it has been reverted.Shintarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16758343475446510635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538233114133115363.post-37386641463903897942017-07-28T00:05:57.844+01:002017-07-28T00:05:57.844+01:00Sometimes i suspect, BW knows that they implement ...Sometimes i suspect, BW knows that they implement bad things into the game. Something, that makes the community go full tilt. After the rage they introduce changes. And all the people stayed during the bad two weeks, hear about the upcoming changes, and pay well-behaved their subscription. When the changes go live they tell all friends how good the game is, so BW gets even more subs.<br /><br />It's all a marketing trick. there is no such thing as bad publicity. and when you change it into a good thing, you emerge as a hero to the playerbase.<br /><br />It's all about the money.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538233114133115363.post-63302386169158875102017-07-26T21:38:12.610+01:002017-07-26T21:38:12.610+01:00"Galactic Command is about giving people gear..."Galactic Command is about giving people gear for the sake of giving them gear, completely decoupled from what they might want to do with it."<br /><br />Or, perhaps, because fashion.<br />Redbeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05306063084983025771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538233114133115363.post-10177055114898453222017-07-26T19:43:01.166+01:002017-07-26T19:43:01.166+01:00You're right that it could always stay in the ...You're right that it could always stay in the game with the cosmetic rewards it currently gives, but then they would still have to think of some other way of handling gear acquisition at endgame.Shintarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16758343475446510635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538233114133115363.post-26518661589104256152017-07-26T19:41:35.653+01:002017-07-26T19:41:35.653+01:00They are actually talking about introducing gear r...They are actually talking about introducing gear requirements for hardmode flashpoints and the suggestion doesn't seem to have been too well received (including by me) because as it is, SWTOR has almost no gear barriers unless you want to get into the highest tier of content and the notion seems unnecessarily restrictive. But that's a whole different kettle of fish really.<br /><br />Galactic Command is about giving people gear for the sake of giving them gear, completely decoupled from what they might want to do with it.Shintarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16758343475446510635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538233114133115363.post-37046059633419548192017-07-26T19:29:07.442+01:002017-07-26T19:29:07.442+01:00Well, I'm glad I both got a chuckle out of my ...Well, I'm glad I both got a chuckle out of my quip and a backhanded swipe at Blizz. ;-)<br /><br />Seriously though, there does come a point to where trying to "fix" things might make it worse. I'm not sure what Bioware will do, especially if it's not "good enough" to keep going forward. The use once and throw away that Blizz does in each expac is a bad example because Blizz has a bigger dev staff for WoW than SWTOR (or any other MMO) has, yet they simply move onto the new hotness rather than make it work long term. The Pet Battles is the most recent exception to that rule, and that's because of both the monetization of the Blizz shop and the popularity of pet battles. Bioware doesn't have that luxury of use once and discard, so they're more inclined to try to make it work for the long term and get more mileage out of it. <br /><br />That said, making it tiered, so that you reach a certain level of command rank you get into XXX group content, and more becomes available at higher command ranks (kind of like how WoW had the gearscore barrier in Wrath for the ICC 5-mans) might work the best.Redbeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05306063084983025771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538233114133115363.post-78259158609176002672017-07-26T14:07:44.137+01:002017-07-26T14:07:44.137+01:00I don't think they need to innovate for the sa...I don't think they need to innovate for the sake of innovation. They have a system now that most people agree is a great way of supplementing the regular gear grind so it would be silly to throw it out and come up with something new.Overbyte is rubbishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16169446258980541681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538233114133115363.post-31269987114874584472017-07-26T09:15:18.297+01:002017-07-26T09:15:18.297+01:00I've barely seen the system as it came in just...I've barely seen the system as it came in just before I went on hiatus. This article made me think of Rift actually. They introduced ages ago now an 'alternate advancement' style system called planar attunement; a way to continue dinging after reaching the level cap. That was back when the original cap of 50 was still current. Since then the cap has been raised several times but planar attunement has remained unchanged. It works as a source of minor tweaks to stats and utility abilities post level 50. CXP is different of course since it's tied to gear progression and thus a certain ilvl of gear. But maybe it could be have the level-dependent gear rewards removed and still have other purposes (if it doesn't already)?Telwynhttp://gamingsf.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538233114133115363.post-90211184267238506212017-07-25T23:26:49.565+01:002017-07-25T23:26:49.565+01:00This made me chuckle. ^^This made me chuckle. ^^Ravanelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03447777640056476366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538233114133115363.post-39705586905310733952017-07-25T23:26:13.899+01:002017-07-25T23:26:13.899+01:00This is one of the first concerns I had when it ca...This is one of the first concerns I had when it came to CXP, but I had a tough time explaining it to the others on CRR. I don't know what's the best way to go forward. I just hope the devs understand that if they just keep increasing the max amount of command ranks, it will increase the barrier for new players to get into group content (something which I consider to be a very bad thing).Ravanelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03447777640056476366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538233114133115363.post-49601896945557345882017-07-25T21:48:57.973+01:002017-07-25T21:48:57.973+01:00But I was looking for suggestions for how to deal ...But I was looking for suggestions for how to deal with this in a <i>good</i> way! :PShintarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16758343475446510635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538233114133115363.post-18993450673038041752017-07-25T21:48:13.785+01:002017-07-25T21:48:13.785+01:00I'm not a fan of gear resets myself, but I und...I'm not a fan of gear resets myself, but I understand why MMOs want to have them every now and then: to prevent things from going stagnant and to give new players a chance to jump in and be on even footing with everyone else. I don't think it's that bad in SWTOR, especially as gear from an expansion or two ago still does go a long way. In WoW I got tired of how they have a full reset pretty much every single patch nowadays, and because they are constantly increasing the stats on their gear exponentially, the old tier tends to become complete garbage.Shintarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16758343475446510635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538233114133115363.post-13007293191285701952017-07-25T12:50:05.742+01:002017-07-25T12:50:05.742+01:00If they use WoW as any guide, come the next expac ...If they use WoW as any guide, come the next expac they could minimize Galactic Command for whatever is the replacement.Redbeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05306063084983025771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538233114133115363.post-63022276307454796542017-07-25T12:25:08.546+01:002017-07-25T12:25:08.546+01:00I don't understand why the level cap has to ke...I don't understand why the level cap has to keep going up. Resetting your progress with each expansion in this way is such a turn-off for me. We're already on a treadmill and then Bam! Treadmill reset.<br /><br />Makes me want to stop playing every time it happens. I stopped raiding last time they did it. Just don't want to go back to square one. There just weren't enough different raids to keep me interested in doing what I'd already done again and again, and I never really got into the whole CXP thing. I'm not into grinding. <br /><br />Most of my characters are still in the raid gear from, like, two expansions ago, if that. This kind of game design may appeal to some, but not to me. It's small wonder that I haven't logged in for months.<br /><br />I don't know what the solution is, I suppose you have to keep giving folks something new to aim for, but making you feel like all your work was for nothing doesn't work for me.Guidohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07882687017712412137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538233114133115363.post-88619631091915898612017-07-25T08:54:26.299+01:002017-07-25T08:54:26.299+01:00CR is a pointless number and could be represented ...CR is a pointless number and could be represented with a cheev (maybe one for each 100 ranks?) but the gear you have had from it represents the actual material benefit, especially with the wardrobe allowing players to save their looks, so I have no problem with BioWare resetting the system when the level cap goes upOverbyte is rubbishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16169446258980541681noreply@blogger.com