[MEGA] Road Ahead: October 2021

"Spence;c-2309254" wrote:
Overall my feelings on this road ahead are pretty mixed. Most of my negative thoughts boil down to a lack of transparency/explanation as to why certain things are/aren't happening. I like all the info stated in the phase 1 gear crunch update. I don't like that the phase seems to be rolling out in separate sub-phases for no apparent reason. Why are certain parts of the phase launching with the title update but not others? Do the other parts need more time for testing/bug fixing?

As evidenced by the vanishing buttons, Executor's launch being a flop as every fleet except Endurace countered the "unbeatable" ship, and the debacle that was Conquest 7's launch (I could name more, but that makes this list embarrassingly long), CG doesn't do testing or bug fixes. Bold of you to think they do any at all. Everyone who plays this game are the alpha and beta testers.

"Whatelse73;c-2308973" wrote:
Would've been nice to hear that they found a way to stop this from happening. Losing buttons and not being able to complete waves I can easily complete is pretty frustrating. We need a way to /unstuck if this happens.

Fixing this won't generate revenue. So NO!

Nvm

"Kyno;c-2309212" wrote:

"HumbleMumble;c-2309161" wrote:
Just want to comment on the word “paywall”, there are different kinds of paywalls. People claiming that this isn’t a paywall are thinking of hard paywalls, it’s all-or-nothing. However there are soft paywalls as well where you have limited access, like fewer attempts at conquest per day. So you’re both right depending on which definition you want to use.

You are confusing paywall with p2p. Paywall is something that is a wall, and cannot be passed without $$. P2p is an advantage gained by $$ while paying, like more battles per day.

Paywall has a definition, no matter how we want to look at it. We can call anything around money a paywall, hard or soft, or other variations, but that doesnt make them the correct usage of the word, that's why there are other terms that do not involve being strictly locked out of access to content without $$.

If you want to go by a definition then paywall exists only for websites according to online dictionaries. Gaming paywall is not listed anywhere.

"Spence;c-2309254" wrote:
Overall my feelings on this road ahead are pretty mixed. Most of my negative thoughts boil down to a lack of transparency/explanation as to why certain things are/aren't happening. I like all the info stated in the phase 1 gear crunch update. I don't like that the phase seems to be rolling out in separate sub-phases for no apparent reason. Why are certain parts of the phase launching with the title update but not others? Do the other parts need more time for testing/bug fixing? If so, I'm totally fine with that, but I would like a stated reason. Otherwise it just looks like you're rolling out these massively needed gear changes as slowly as possible for monetary reasons. Also, I was really hoping we would get some initial info for what phase 2 would bring, since it's been almost a month since phase 1 was announced and it was stated in the state of the gear-laxy post that these phases would roll out "over the next few months" but i guess that comes later.

Phase 1 is all rolling out together then this update goes live.

Which parts are you thinking are not rolling out in this part?

They announced it early to gove some hope and let people know that there were things coming. That update has no bearing on phase 2.

Yes phase 2 and any possible later phases will roll out over the next few months and over next year. This will be a long term roll out, as they watch how these changes take hold, and examine the effects it had and tweak the adjustments to meet expectations on both sides.

"Spence;c-2309254" wrote:


More login calenders sounds cool! don't love that some need to be bought but if some are free then that's fine by me. I don't like that there is no specifics of what we can find on the calenders. Gear? Shards? Mats? who knows! Again, I really dislike this "wait until it's live in game to see!" approach that CG has been taking. you don't have to every detail of every calender, but some specifics would be nice so that we can properly set our expecations.

This is less of a wait until it goes live, and more of a new tool they have added that allows them to do this. They have many ideas of what they can and may do but dont have anything directly to share at the moment.

One of the things mentioned was that this type of tool may allow them to bring back things like the daily crystal sub, as it can be tweaked in a way that allows players to not lose what they paid for if they dont log in on consecutive days.

I would imagine when it does launch we will get an update like we do with packs outlining what is in the calendar, but I could be wrong.

"Spence;c-2309254" wrote:


Mode specific character abilities sounds neat. I fully support the idea of taking old, bad characters and carving out a niche use for them in this way instead of giving them full kit reworks that could have been used on newly released characters. hopefully the omicrons aren't terribly difficult to get but yeah, I like this feature.

Much like how zetas started, I would expect a slow but steady income. As with anything new, expect it to be tight for a bit and needing to make some tough choicies.

"Spence;c-2309254" wrote:


Conquest 10 sounds interesting. I don't have many thoughts on this since I haven't been able to engage with conquest in any meaningful way because my account is still too weak. Hopefully easy mode fixes that issue for me and I'll be able to fully clear a sector! When the conquest pass was first datamined I assumed that the basic pass would be Free and the "plus" pass would be monetized. Slightly disappointed that they are both monetized but again, I havent played much conquest so it doesn't really affect me at all.

It's a new thing, the free path is there, and the upgraded paths are paid, this is how it is in other games too. There are discussions on how to adapt and add to this, which may open it up to crystal purchase later on down the line.

"Spence;c-2309254" wrote:


and finally, all the anniversary rewards look neat. We love free stuff! So yeah, actually going through it, for me personally, there is mostly good with a little bad. I just want to reiterate that I think CG should really do a better job of explaining their reasoning behind certain changes, give more specific details when possible, and give concrete dates on when features are launching. /end rant

Fine details on when things will launch is a hard one to pin down, as things are always at the whim of things outside of control.

If you have more specific "reason why" questions, please feel free to ask. They dont always have an outward facing answer but sometimes we have more background info.

A big shout out to KYNO - wow the RA is less than 24hrs out and you have single-handedly answered peoples queries, provided rational arguments and even put some muppets back in their place. Free gear is free gear...that's all I am happy with.

Thanks Kyno.

"Spence;c-2309254" wrote:
Overall my feelings on this road ahead are pretty mixed. Most of my negative thoughts boil down to a lack of transparency/explanation as to why certain things are/aren't happening. I like all the info stated in the phase 1 gear crunch update. I don't like that the phase seems to be rolling out in separate sub-phases for no apparent reason. Why are certain parts of the phase launching with the title update but not others? Do the other parts need more time for testing/bug fixing? If so, I'm totally fine with that, but I would like a stated reason. Otherwise it just looks like you're rolling out these massively needed gear changes as slowly as possible for monetary reasons. Also, I was really hoping we would get some initial info for what phase 2 would bring, since it's been almost a month since phase 1 was announced and it was stated in the state of the gear-laxy post that these phases would roll out "over the next few months" but i guess that comes later.

More login calenders sounds cool! don't love that some need to be bought but if some are free then that's fine by me. I don't like that there is no specifics of what we can find on the calenders. Gear? Shards? Mats? who knows! Again, I really dislike this "wait until it's live in game to see!" approach that CG has been taking. you don't have to every detail of every calender, but some specifics would be nice so that we can properly set our expecations.

Mode specific character abilities sounds neat. I fully support the idea of taking old, bad characters and carving out a niche use for them in this way instead of giving them full kit reworks that could have been used on newly released characters. hopefully the omicrons aren't terribly difficult to get but yeah, I like this feature.

Conquest 10 sounds interesting. I don't have many thoughts on this since I haven't been able to engage with conquest in any meaningful way because my account is still too weak. Hopefully easy mode fixes that issue for me and I'll be able to fully clear a sector! When the conquest pass was first datamined I assumed that the basic pass would be Free and the "plus" pass would be monetized. Slightly disappointed that they are both monetized but again, I havent played much conquest so it doesn't really affect me at all.

and finally, all the anniversary rewards look neat. We love free stuff! So yeah, actually going through it, for me personally, there is mostly good with a little bad. I just want to reiterate that I think CG should really do a better job of explaining their reasoning behind certain changes, give more specific details when possible, and give concrete dates on when features are launching. /end rant

As we can see with the current update, releasing too many things at once without proper testing can cause game breaking issues to be introduced.

They don't communicate clearly because they're not sure what might happen next.

Speed GAC looked like fun.

"Kyno;c-2308804" wrote:

"DarthKatk;c-2308803" wrote:
Giving the players more gear - Yes. Should've happened ages ago.
Sith Raid sim - where's that?

The rest - I'm sorry but it's garbage and you just seem intent on pushing more people away.
You did nothing to ease the grind and dry humping in conquest and it is exactly that when you need to do 14 of the same battles with 5 different teams. Putting Conquest behind a paywall aswell? Wow, just wow. The greed is stong in this one.
AND NEXT CONQUEST IS STARTING IN NOVEMBER 1!!! Weeeeee! Not like we just had 3 back to back to back Conquests already which resulted in a mass exodus of top tier players. What's a fourth one added straight after that eh?

The mode specific abilities. Idk who thought of that idea but whoever did or maybe whoever approved that idea should be fired. It is just bad. You give someone a buff for only TW - how the hell are players supposed to test the best comps and counters if the char behaves differently to how he does in arena? Guilds can lose their wars because this "cool touch".

What Paywall for Conquest? You can play it and get all the same rewards you have been getting without $$.

But you have do deal with the fact it is still grindy to heck

"RTS;c-2309233" wrote:
The amount of people asking about the timing of the gear changes when it's laid out in the RA...

You mean these parts?

Our next Title Update is almost here (rolling out later today as a matter of fact) and with it brings a number of big changes to Galaxy of Heroes such as the start of Phase 1 of the Gear changes, Conquest 10, Mode Specific abilities, updated login calendars and our Anniversary. Check out the video below for an overview or read on for the details!
...
Our goal is that players feel a noticeable change in their daily, weekly and monthly Gear flows and speed up all player’s ability to dive deeper into the Relic system. The following changes are coming very soon and are part of this week’s update!

Daily Quest Changes
Your Daily Quest to play in different parts of the game will now have a new slot for Core Gear. In addition to the other items you normally receive, you will now also collect 4-7 of these Salvages when obtaining the Daily Prize Box. Daily Quests will now also drop one of the following Gear items with an equal probability:
Mk 5 A/KT Stun Gun Prototype Salvage
Mk 3 Carbanti Sensor Array Salvage
Mk 3 Czerka Stun Cuffs Salvage
Mk 5 Arakyd Droid Caller Salvage
Mk 8 Biotech Implant Component
...

The second change in this Title Update to Gear comes from the three weekly Gear Challenges that occur 3 times per week. TAC needed a bit more love than the others so it has 2 items:
TAC GEAR CHALLENGE:
Mk 5 A/KT Stun Gun Salvage
Mk 8 Biotech Implant Component
AGI GEAR CHALLENGE:
Mk 3 Czerka Stun Cuff Salvage
STR GEAR CHALLENGE:
Mk 5 Arakyd Droid Caller Salvage

Sounds to me like all those things are supposed to be active in the update. None of them are.

Phase 1 is all rolling out together then this update goes live.

Which parts are you thinking are not rolling out in this part?

They announced it early to gove some hope and let people know that there were things coming. That update has no bearing on phase 2.

Yes phase 2 and any possible later phases will roll out over the next few months and over next year. This will be a long term roll out, as they watch how these changes take hold, and examine the effects it had and tweak the adjustments to meet expectations on both sides.

This is less of a wait until it goes live, and more of a new tool they have added that allows them to do this. They have many ideas of what they can and may do but dont have anything directly to share at the moment.

One of the things mentioned was that this type of tool may allow them to bring back things like the daily crystal sub, as it can be tweaked in a way that allows players to not lose what they paid for if they dont log in on consecutive days.

I would imagine when it does launch we will get an update like we do with packs outlining what is in the calendar, but I could be wrong.

Much like how zetas started, I would expect a slow but steady income. As with anything new, expect it to be tight for a bit and needing to make some tough choicies.

It's a new thing, the free path is there, and the upgraded paths are paid, this is how it is in other games too. There are discussions on how to adapt and add to this, which may open it up to crystal purchase later on down the line.

Fine details on when things will launch is a hard one to pin down, as things are always at the whim of things outside of control.

If you have more specific "reason why" questions, please feel free to ask. They don't always have an outward-facing answer but sometimes we have more background info.

this from the top of the post: "This week’s Title Update kicks off Phase 1 of the Gear changes. Many of the items discussed in the State of the Gear-laxy will go in effect with the Update and the rest will roll out over the next month or so." and this from a bit further down: "What’s Next For Phase 1
While this week’s Title Update starts the process of the Gear Changes, we still have many more adjustments to come. In Phase 1 we still have changes to hard node Gear drop rates, Territory Battle reward flattening, and adding in a new dedicated slot in the Shard Shop that only provides Core Gear. Once those are complete, we will begin speaking to what Phase 2 encompasses in the near future." make it sound like we aren't getting the entire phase 1 at once. If I'm misunderstanding that then let me know! I would be very happy to be wrong about that.

To speak on the desire for more fine details and specific "reason why" questions a bit more: I've only just recently started frequenting this forum/paid attention to upcoming news for SWGoH. But I'm much more active in communities for other live-service games like Destiny, OSRS, DBZ Dokkan Battle. So coming to this community I can't help but look at how CG communicates with it's community compared to these other games/companies. And so I see a pretty stark difference in how frequently info is communicated and how much info is given. Just as an example, the fact that we didn't have a specific date for when the road ahead was going live is sort of mind-blowing to me. I understand when the State of the Galaxy thread was posted a month ago, not knowing exactly when you would have the Road Ahead ready so just saying it's coming sometime in October. But then not updating that info and having your entire community speculate when it will come out literally up to the day it drops seems so strange. Bungie has this thing called TWAB (This Week At Bungie). It's a big blog post on their website that comes out every single Thursday that covers what's upcoming in the game and goes into pretty specific detail usually, including dates of certain content drops and such. So I guess I am just curious if CG has always been this vague with info and it's something I'll have to get used to or if this post was particularly vague for some reason or another? Not trying to come off as judgemental or attacky, just want to set my expectations appropriately moving forward.