Weekly Dev Q&A for Fridays

[Sjofn]

I don't think legacy goes between servers, though.

[Nebu]

It does not.  My Shien characters have no legacy. 

[Nevermore]

George seems to have gone on a question answering spree last night.

Originally Posted by Dylancholy
I'm still confused about social gear. Specifically, the armor.
The Republic Officer social gear, for example, is "light armor."
Is it viable for me, a Gunslinger, to put my end game mods in that?
Or will it stay light armor?
Sadly, for 1.2. it will stay light armor.

We are currently working on what we call 'adaptive gear' technology for a future Game Update (hopefully 1.3) which will make social equipment morph to the correct armor type for a player. Together with the ability to infuse mod slots into existing gear, this will make social gear a completely viable option when it rolls out.

Soon Fordel will be able to tank in a wedding dress just for Ingmar! 

[Sjofn]

They need more belts that work with the social gear imo, my manquisitor's belts all look ridiculous with the social shit because it's all that "actually three belts at once" droopy, loopy shit.

[Fordel]

George seems to have gone on a question answering spree last night.

Originally Posted by Dylancholy
I'm still confused about social gear. Specifically, the armor.
The Republic Officer social gear, for example, is "light armor."
Is it viable for me, a Gunslinger, to put my end game mods in that?
Or will it stay light armor?
Sadly, for 1.2. it will stay light armor.

We are currently working on what we call 'adaptive gear' technology for a future Game Update (hopefully 1.3) which will make social equipment morph to the correct armor type for a player. Together with the ability to infuse mod slots into existing gear, this will make social gear a completely viable option when it rolls out.

Soon Fordel will be able to tank in a wedding dress just for Ingmar! 

I actually can't, the wedding dress is female only :(

[Nevermore]

Someone mentioned they might be removing gender restrictions in the future, though!

[Sjofn]

inc Jassan running around in a slave girl outfit

[Lantyssa]

I actually can't, the wedding dress is female only :(

Time to make Fordella, the Wedding Commando then.  (What's another Trooper, right?)

[Fordel]

Commandos are the healing class Lanty, GAWD!

[Lantyssa]

It was a title, not a class designation.

(Not like I know your silly Republican classes anyways.)

[Jherad]

silly Republican classes

[Rokal]

Q: When will character transfers be available for everybody?

A: We will be rolling out our Character Transfer Service in early summer. First we’ll have some targeted free transfers from/to specific servers, but that will be followed with a broader system where you can either take advantage of free promotional transfers to specific servers or paid transfers to the server of your choice. We know everyone has more questions about character transfer, and we’ll reveal more details closer to the launch date.

Source: http://www.swtor.com/blog/community-qa-april-27th-2012

Not unexpected, but it sounds like they plan for server transfers to be a paid service in the long run. I'd hoped that Rift set a precedent for why free transfers are good business, but Bioware has opted to stick with the 'tried and true' MMO model that has done so well for them thus far.
 

[Sjofn]

wtb more character slots per server pst

[Ingmar]

So where's the evidence that free transfers were actually good for RIFT?

[Sky]

wtb more character slots per server pst

Fuckin' A. I've deleted two or three I'd rather not've.

[Minvaren]

16 per server should be enough for everyone.   

[caladein]

So where's the evidence that free transfers were actually good for RIFT?

That everyone thinks of them as "free transfers and trial servers" instead of server merges.

[Ingmar]

16 per server should be enough for everyone.   

1 per romance imo

[Sjofn]

16 per server should be enough for everyone.   

That would be about enough. 

[Lantyssa]

Per side.

[Sjofn]

Mostly I would like to be the opposite gender for the bulk of the classes (But not all! For example, I don't feel the need to be a dude JK, because Kira annoys the fuck out of me, and I would spend the entire time wishing I could make out with Doc), so 16 really would be pretty much ideal. :P

[Rokal]

So where's the evidence that free transfers were actually good for RIFT?

I don't really know that there's any proof, other than that the game is doing well, servers are well-populated, and the community (judging from the forums/in-game) seems happier with the game and Trion than any other MMO community I've seen. Players getting into like-minded guilds is good business for MMOs, as it makes it more likely that they'll stick with the game or take advantage of the repeatable activities (PVP, raiding, dungeons, RP) that keep subs rolling. Allowing free transfers and having a competent Looking For Guild tool makes that goal much easier to achieve.

You can also see the benefit in the free mobile app, which keeps players more connected to their guild and the game. There's a value to that. Companies like Blizzard/Bioware only seem to see the value if the service is directly bringing in revenue (e.g. mobile guild chat/AH 'subscription' for WoW).

[Minvaren]

For me, it's mostly that I'd like to take Light Side and Dark Side routes on each class.  On reflection, I did this with the KotORs as well...

[Phred]

So where's the evidence that free transfers were actually good for RIFT?

Don't worry, SWToR is next on the graveyard train.

[caladein]

the community (judging from the forums/in-game) seems happier with the game and Trion than any other MMO community I've seen

The vast majority of people who care about Rift at this point probably like it.  This is especially true as we move farther from the debate over the introduction of addons.

There's no hook for that game that makes people who don't like it as-is pine for it to be something else.  It's not a social juggernaut, it doesn't have a compelling IP, and it's not the last best hope for a certain game style or sub-genre.

[Kageru]

So where's the evidence that free transfers were actually good for RIFT?

Who cares? more interesting is the pretty likely argument that no transfers of any type has been bad for SWTOR. There's a lot of characters stuck on light servers with the options being abandon your investment and re-roll or abandon your investment and un-sub.

Or put another way if the server isn't supplying the MMO experience the player deserves I would consider free merging or transfers off that server to be reasonable customer service. You don't punish the customer for being unlucky in their server selection.

[Shatter]

Didnt they say in last weeks Dev Q&A that transfers for NA wil be early summer?  Kind of along time to make people wait on dead servers now isnt it? 

[Ingmar]

It isn't like they can wave a magic wand and have the tech to do that instantly completed. If it isn't ready it isn't ready.

[bhodi]

Well, it's ready and active for Oceanic servers...

[Ingmar]

Ah well in that case, yeah.

[Nevermore]

Well, it's ready and active for Oceanic servers...

They said that version is just a prototype, though.

[Kageru]

It should have been ready at launch or shortly thereafter because server population imbalance was highly likely and damages the play experience. They explain that the legacy system complicates things which means that even after launch, when they were finishing the legacy system, the need for one just never occurred to them.

And transfers off dead servers is pointless as it leaves behind a doubly dead server. It's merges they need and pride / appearances that means they won't do it.

[caladein]

If the Rift model is technologically feasible for them, the dead servers are not an issue.  They can just cannibalize them for grandfathered/trial-only use.

[bhodi]

This lovely piece of info is useful for any crafters... I'm glad this was detailed in the game itself:

Patrick Malott (Systems Designer): The baseline crit chance for crafting is dependent on the difficulty of the crafting action relative to your current crafting skill level. The difficulty is color coded in the crafting GUI.

Orange Difficulty: 10%

Yellow, Green, and Gray Difficulty: 15%

Companion Affection scales Crew Skill chance up to +5% at maximum affection.

A Companion Trait critical chance bonus of +1 or +5 is a percentage. Example: The Imperial Agent companion character Kaliyo grants a +2 bonus to Underworld Trading Critical. This is +2% bonus.

Using Kaliyo at maximum affection as an example, if she ran a green difficulty Underworld Trading mission for you, she would have a 22% chance to score a mission critical success.

So you want to avoid orange missions for the maximum chance of critting for purple materials.

[Ingmar]

Unless you're just skilling up, then you want to do the orange ones as I think you get more skill points per combine?