Re: Companion Balance Changes
RE: Companion Balance Changes
Since most of the companion issue threads happened in General Discussion and not customer service, I cannot respond as someone currently unsubscribed. But I wished to address the thread from Michael Backus. http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=8653152#post8653152 I apologize in advance for the length, but I have taken care to cut what I can. What is here is what I believe is most relevant to the topic.
I don't wish to sound ungrateful. I am pleased to see the thread from Michael Backus and I very much appreciate the apology. It makes it feel like this was all an honest mistake and not the company disrespecting the players. Given the level of compounded frustrations over the past year or so, that was much needed and much appreciated. I also appreciate the explanation on how we come to the point we are at now and where this is going.
However, I am concerned that this new direction will still lead to similar problems in the near future because the question being asked seems to be “What difficulty level do you wish to play?” rather than asking “Why do you play the heroics?”. Since it was unexpected for people to play them so much with the release, I believe why do you play is currently more telling than how do you play. I think the reason for players playing the heroics may reveal that the needed solution on companions may not require combat balancing or changes to heroics but adjustments in completely different places. Playing heroics and what the preferred difficulty level may be aspects of what the player is actually trying to achieve.
The Feedback I’d Like to submit is:
- Server
- Why do you do heroics?
- Preferred difficulty
- Discipline
- Preferred companion role
- What do you prefer to do in game?
- Personal Experience with this issue
- Requests
I believe that players submitting answers to these questions will reveal that better enabling play styles that were more practical before 4.0 is the underlying issue, and I'd like to encourage others to answer the questions as well.
Edit: Attempts were made to use the anchor feature to make this easier to navigate, but it seems it does not like its own html and it keeps removing them.
Server
I play on the Begeren Colony RP PVE server.
Why do you do heroics?
I do the heroics because I need money for the GTN which has high inflation. I suspect this is due to low competition on selling some cartel market items, people strapped for cash trying to make credits faster, and probably the amount of credits in the system.
Preferred Difficulty
I prefer a difficulty that allows me to finish the heroic as quick as possible since there is little to explore story wise. I adore the art of extensive maps, but I don’t run heroics to sightsee. I am a casual player, and I play this game as a diversion only. Have no intention of making a career out of playing my class. That is why I avoid much of the endgame content
Discipline
I basically stick to my Seer Sage and Sharpshooter Gunslinger because I understand sufficiently how to play those disciplines. Though I have some characters that aren’t those disciplines, I don’t play those characters very often. My sage is my main. I made the gunslinger as a concession to the fact that I wanted to take less time killing things so I could move on.
Preferred Companion Role
I prefer to use DPS companions to hasten combat. My healer is my main and that often means taking forever to finish combat without a DPS companion. I only do combat as a means to get credits, materials, or to complete mission objectives.
What do you prefer to do in game?
My preferences center on visual things, socializing, the GTN, and story. I prefer buying and selling on the GTN, RPing and chatting with other players, sometimes tagging along in groups for missions, running around on maps looking at the artwork, decorating my stronghold, outfitting my characters, playing story missions relevant to my head canon for who my characters are, and examining maps and models to see how they were constructed. My ideal career was to be a 3D artist, in particular an environmental artist I love examining how world maps must have been put together.
I don’t care for combat in most games, but I tolerate it as a means to an end so long as it doesn't crowd out the aspects I like. Much of my enjoyment is shaped by RPing. For instance, my characters were made for RP, so they have their own stories. My interest in the game story is split between enjoying a Bioware story, one of the things that drew me here, and just looking for details to flesh out the stories I create on the side.
For instance, my trooper is a droid for RP. I played the trooper story for the sake of seeing the story, but it didn’t have much bearing on the in character story of my droid. However, I did enjoy it. It’s the one I like the most of what I’ve played so far. However, Directive 7 had an extreme bearing on her story, and I played through that flashpoint multiple times to analyze the story elements to use for her character development. Combat was a tolerable cost for the story. I really did enjoy the story implications of the droids’ various behaviors in Directive 7. I will note, however, that being overleveled helped to offset the dislike of combat because it prevented the combat from distracting me too much from what I was actually there for.
Personal Experience
I have to break this section up into:
How the recent companion changes/expansion has affected my game experience:
When 4.0 was announced, I was concerned about level sync and the effect it would have on my ability to play. I expected it to be exactly like what it became once the companions were nerfed. However, when I first logged in to the companions being “overpowered”, they balanced out the effects of level sync such that I felt a little bad for expecting it to be horrible. At that point, I felt it was manageable, and I could see how level sync could introduce new content on old planets which I am in favor of.
I didn’t like how world drops changed significantly increased the time it took me to make credits. But combat became a bit more enjoyable, so I more willingly participated in it since even dying wasn’t too much of a setback. By the way, my presence and influence levels aren't that high, so my companion wasn’t overpowered. I still died, my health still depleted, I had to work to kill my own mobs. I concede that the system did not function they way it was intended but there was a wide gulf between what some people expereienced with their companions. Mine did not play the game for me.
One really noticeable issue that I had when I first tested companions was that tanks were horrible. I used Corso in tank stance in the wrong Nar Shaddaa heroic, mercs everywhere. We were massacred so hard that the out of combat mobs that Corso pulled into combat rampaged and killed another player that was somewhat nearby. That was bad. Your tank shouldn’t bring the whole house down on your head and the head of someone not right next to you nor in group with you. I think it was a combination of factors that lead to the horrific mob swarm, but it wasn’t pretty.
After the companion nerf, I was jarred by the difference in playing. I admit that I had gotten a bit lazy on using tactics, but that was mostly due to always playing overleveled for speed. Once I realized that it was no longer optional, I adjusted back to using normal tactics and got on with my day. The problem came in when I realized that my now sluggish cash flow from running missions-sluggish as compared to what I could make in an hour pre 4.0- was now taking even longer with the same diminished returns. My reason for even running the mission became moot.
I believe part of the discouragement from logging in came because combat took longer making me feel like I was wasting time and not in a fun way. I had other things I needed to do that I was taking time away from to play the game. Fun covers a lot of shortcomings and illogical actions, but the intermediate tasks between me and fun were taking even more time from real things that needed my attention.
I started to feel couldn’t justify taking that time from more real things on the explanation that I was working towards something I wanted. The rationale for continuing to slog through the changes felt like I was forcing myself to do something I had no business rationalizing anymore. I felt foolish for continuing to struggle with it, so I stopped. I had intended to subscribe by December and I dropped that plan as well. It looked like that might have been the new normal for the game.
I also want to add that other changes such as crafting changes and cartel pack changes affected by ability to sell on the GTN and thus affected my fun. They shifted demand around pretty dramatically, shifted the available pool of buyers, the availability of items, and the willingness of people to buy stuff from the cartel market just to resell it. The bottom line is that an income source started to dry up quickly a bit because of a variety of changes that happened at once. That income source could have offset the changes in combat my making me less dependent on it.
My Concerns:
For me, with the release of 4.0, running missions not only became a constant requirement but almost the only way to get anything done. Before 4.0, I could make money in a variety of ways, and I could spend most of my time in game talking with other players or doing something other than running missions. Now it feels like all the time I can stand to spend in game has to go to running missions, missions which now take longer yet pay the same. That makes me want to not spend time in game across the board. I now spend the time in Mabinogi which has mechanics I like better in that I can actually play as much as I like, make money, and avoid going into combat areas entirely.
I can tolerate a variety of gameplay options as long as the credit output is worth the time eaten by the task. My two biggest factors for weighing toleration of combat in game are time and credits. I can even take tedious gameplay as long as I feel like the credits gained are worth the time spend and the effort expended.
For instance, pre 4.0 I ran heroics over and over again for credits and or bioanalysis crafting materials. It was tedious, but it took little time per battle such that I could take a break easily once it started to get to me. Also the credit output was enough to make it more tolerable than grouping for flashpoints or operations. I will leave my explanation on why I avoid grouping to this: players can make it a truly obnoxious experience. So I avoid PUGS at almost all cost. Also, I hate asking other people to stop what they are doing just to help me do something I barely want to do myself. However, the point I am trying to make is that I already started to make money slower with the release of 4.0. Now it’s happening even slower, and the only reason I need the combat at all is to make money either through sales, vendors, or completed missions.
Requests
Please make it viable again to make money aside from missions, heroics in particular. I will gladly move aside and let the people who want more of a challenge have harder heroics as long as I have alternate adequate income sources. I understand that nerfing world drops was probably a shot at stopping credit sellers. I admit that something needed to be done about them. But I feel that recent changes only encouraged them to step up their harassment. Now it feels like there are more people that need their services and more sellers/companies willing to make themselves available.
The new heroic system along with the world loot drop nerf feels as though it undercut many players in terms of making their own money. It also feels as though it opened up a world of opportunity for the credit sellers. The credit seller effectively gets paid to learn how to game the system no matter what the system is, but the player has to pay or give of their time to be able to make their own credits. The credit sellers have more incentive to roll with the punches since they get more money in return for their time and money expense. When income sources are narrowed down for players and credit sellers alike, the players are likely to be hit harder. They will then require the credit sellers help to compensate. I’m not advocating for buying credits, I’m merely commenting on the trend I’ve noticed.
I won’t say that I have a solution to the credit seller problem, but I will ask that changes be made to make it easier for the player to make their own credits. Please provide additional revenue streams or find ways to make existing goods more valuable. For instance, I believe that the removal of reusable stims is what caused the surge in demand for certain bioanalysis materials. They became more valuable because the demand skyrocketed, and many were willing to meet that demand.
However, that avenue is being choked out due to the number of people all trying to use it at the time time for the same reason I believe a lot of people are strapped for cash. This is likely because they want to buy things from the GTN and prices are going up, at least on my server. Variety will keep an avenue from being run into the ground and will help with the endless undercutting wars as there will be over supply than demand. I have heard several comments on how often you have to check your prices to see if you still stand a chance at making a sale; it's gotten worse lately.
One thing I have wondered about is craftables like the complex access card schematic that said it could be sold to vendors for a lot of money. I never made, one and the schematic kept disappearing for it, I think. But what if there could be crafting schematic for items that are only for selling to vendors to make money? This could cause people to craft more triggering a rise in demand for materials. The items could be regulated by crafting time, they could be saved until later then sold when the money is most needed (unlike mission rewards), and it may be more unappealing than botting for credit sellers.
Providing schematics that require high amounts of lower level materials (grade 6 and below) may help improve the demand for those mats. Most people will not be staying a low level for long, so they won’t need low level hilts or armor as much as they will need stuff made for each level cap (50, 55. 60, 65). Needing 50 green amorphous crystals along with other items would keep the schematic from being RNG dependent. It also shouldn’t result in low level players only crafting and abandoning leveling especially if the schematics combine various grades together.
At the same time, this could create better markets for low level and high level players alike by spreading out people supplying materials across a wider range of materials. I suspect that making the items crafted from the schematic bind on pick up would also help limit it to personal money making use. The extra steps added by material sourcing and crafting should make it slightly more cumbersome for someone not doing it for personal gain.
