Star Wars: The Old Republic Random Question/Discussion thread - F2P

[Anoat]

So I wondered if this was worth discussing since this game doesn't get a lot of traffic here, but I guess slot machines were added as a secret decoration in the last cartel market pack. The slot machines have a ridiculously high win rate and the devs have confirmed it is not an exploit or bug. A lot of the crafters are mad because it rewards Jawa Junk which can be traded to vendors for high level synthesis materials. Personally I don't have any crafting skills so I don't have much of an opinion on it, but I wondered what others were thinking?

Oh, and the best part is that some people are setting up rows of slot machines in their strongholds and charging people to come play like its a legit casino, lol

[Anoat]

Welp, the drop rate on the slot machines was nerfed heavily in an update, and now all the people who rushed out to buy cartel packs in hopes of getting the slot machine (after Bioware confirmed it was working as intended and not an exploit) are bitching that they got bait & switched. You sure can't please everybody it seems.

[Guyverarmor]

Yup, good ole EAware. I'll stick with Rift for now.

[Prothescar]

Welp, the drop rate on the slot machines was nerfed heavily in an update, and now all the people who rushed out to buy cartel packs in hopes of getting the slot machine (after Bioware confirmed it was working as intended and not an exploit) are bitching that they got bait & switched. You sure can't please everybody it seems.

to be fair that pretty much is a bait and switch by definition

[Purrrfect]

Did they advertise the machines as 'high payout, get loot here now!' things or were they just furnitures for stronghold that players found to be generous on the rewards? I can't really see it being a bait&switch on the latter after nerfing it. If they did the former though, yeah they fucked up.

[Guyverarmor]

Well when people had brought up to em how big the pay outs were and such, EAware said it was working as intended. But then a day or later said "Guys, we are going to make some adjustments".

[arus2001]

I'd say it's gray area. If they obviously had the things set deliberately higher to goad people into buy them, then yes, they're asshole devs. On the other hand, if they realized the payouts were perhaps a bit too generous once deployed and data harvested, balancing passes aren't unheard of in this genre. Just one of those reasons to be careful about your money with MMOs, really. If it's too good to be true, maybe it is.

[Prothescar]

Did they advertise the machines as 'high payout, get loot here now!' things or were they just furnitures for stronghold that players found to be generous on the rewards? I can't really see it being a bait&switch on the latter after nerfing it. If they did the former though, yeah they fucked up.

i dont play the game, i havent put a single dollar into it, but just looking at this screams shady shit to me.

Day 1: People find the machines give good stuff
Day 2: Devs say it's not an exploit and is working as intended, cool and copacetic
Day 3: People go out in droves and buy the machines for their own chances at profit and stuff.
Day 4: Devs suddenly announce a nerf because the machines are too good after cashing in on the hype despite assuring people that it was working as intended

[Anoat]

So SWTOR basically had it's first big loot exploit over the last month. BW handed out punishments in the form of 3-7 day suspensions and a small number of permabans. I was really hoping for Salvage-bans worthy lulz, but there were none to be had.

[Rulke]

^Gotta be out of Japan for hardcore bans like that.

[Lucavi]

They need every sub and player they can get. Can't afford to be banning people that keep your coffers modestly filled.

[Anoat]

2015 Producer's Road Map -- http://www.swtor.com/info/news/article/20150209

Two major updates planned, one in the spring, and one near the end of the year. Ziost coming in spring update.
"Outfit designer", whatever that is, but some have speculated it will be more of a fashion lock system.
New stronghold.
Togruta will become playable species.
Producers wish to move the story back to focusing on class storylines. We got a snippet of it in Shadow of Revan expansion, but they want to do more. Not many details yet.

[Kelenae]

2015 Producer's Road Map -- http://www.swtor.com/info/news/article/20150209

Two major updates planned, one in the spring, and one near the end of the year. Ziost coming in spring update.
"Outfit designer", whatever that is, but some have speculated it will be more of a fashion lock system.
New stronghold.
Togruta will become playable species.
Producers wish to move the story back to focusing on class storylines. We got a snippet of it in Shadow of Revan expansion, but they want to do more. Not many details yet.

Sold.

[Anoat]

-Bioware announces PVE "tournament" that is basically a speed run competition of one of their raids, promising both in-game and real prizes, including cash
-Players point out that the raid is bugged, and has been, since it debuted in December
-BW says lolnoworries
-One week before "tournament" is to start, BW cancels because they say it wouldn't be fair with it still bugged
-Players: No shit!
-BW: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Anoat]

Beginning May 4th, 12XP in class missions will return for subscribers. This appears to be an "until further notice" boost. There will be an option to turn it off, unlike in the past.

[6souls]

Rise of the Emperor (v3.2) launches today, most of the content is level 60+

Spoiler: show

• Confront the Sith Emperor
  Obsessed with achieving immortality, the Sith Emperor has targeted his own former subjects on the planet Ziost, with every death seemingly extending his dark power. Speaking through those he’s possessed, he controls powerful pawns like Master Surro, the leader of a team of elite militarized Jedi known as the Sixth Line.
• Join forces with Lana and Theron
  As the Sith Emperor gradually dominates the free will of everyone on Ziost, both Lana Beniko, Minister of the newly formed Sith Intelligence, and Theron Shan, a spy for the Galactic Republic, are trying to stop the chaos. Your leadership in guiding them through the conflict on Ziost is critical to uncovering the former Sith Emperor’s terrifying plan.
• Discover the Imperial world of Ziost
  Known as the “Gateway to the Empire,” the planet Ziost is in a state of chaos as innocent civilians are targeted by possessed pawns of the Sith Emperor. From the menacing “People’s Tower” in the city’s center to massive armored walkers patrolling for fresh targets, the Sith Emperor’s presence is overwhelming, his power growing with every death… Only you have the strength to stand against him.

http://www.swtor.com/gameupdates/rise-of-the-emperor

[Anoat]

Looks interesting. I'm currently giving my sub money to FFXI because of nostalgia, but if it turns out not to be buggy/able to complete in one day, I might give it a shot.

[Anoat]

Welp after checking out the forums, it seems the final part of the update has been gated off, according to the devs, for storyline purposes only, until May 4th. A bunch of people bitching that they can't access the final area/boss and get the good loot. But of course there are some people POS hacking to the closed area and already killing the bosses and getting loot.

[Anoat]

Storyline update for anyone who wants to know but doesn't want to sub for it:

Spoiler: show

Emperor shows up on Ziost, starts possessing lots of people and killing everyone else. Emperor gets stronger for everyone who dies. Your hero swoops in to save the day and works with Theron and Lana. A third spy character, somewhat minor, shows up, and is playing both Lana and Theron and secretly works for Supreme Chancellor Suresh. Your hero unwittingly lowers the planetary defenses and Suresh sends an entire Republic fleet to attack Ziost. This is bad, as we have established, more deaths = more powerful Emperor. Lana and Theron figure out that shocking possessed people makes the Emperor lose control over them, at least temporarily. There is a squad of elite Jedi that Theron brought to Ziost that (oops!) became possessed and are causing a lot of trouble. You fight the Jedi leader/Emperor, Lana/Theron shocks most of the possessed people into becoming unpossessed, and you are left with the choice to mercy kill the Jedi, have the Empire experiment on her brain to figure out how the Emperor possessed her, or send her to Tython where (hopefully, maybe) the other Jedi can repair her mind. In one final scene, the disembodied voice of the Emperor says he enjoys having you around because you entertain him, but basically there is nothing you can do and he is gonna win and he hopes you are still alive to see it all happen. Then you get a scene of all the people you just freed from his mind control being possessed yet again. So technically, the Emperor was right.

You then go to the orbital station above Ziost and when you click on the shuttle to the surface, the game basically tells you HEY THIS IS A BIG IMPORTANT PLOT PIECE AND IT'S GOING TO CHANGE SOME SHIT SO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE EVERYTHING DONE BEFORE YOU MOVE ON. So after you click it, you get a CS where the Emperor destroys all life on Ziost pretty easily. The planet turns to ash and everyone on the surface gets dusted like a vampire from the Buffy TV show. Then you can do daily quests on the ruined planet.

So basically nothing you did really matters and the Emperor is fucking shit up left and right.

[Insanecyclone]

That actually makes me want to resub because my highest was only a 23 jedi guardian