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f13.net  |  f13.net General Forums  |  The Gaming Graveyard  |  Star Wars: The Old Republic  |  Topic: Random dev comments thread 0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
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Ingmar
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on: January 17, 2013, 01:25:14 PM

Damion Schubert on some Cartel Pack related stuff:

Quote
Do items put in the Galactic Trade Network sell?
Yes. We have metrics, as well, on what sells, and for what price, which we compare to their drop rates. This gives us a great idea on adjustments we should make for future packs (the drop rates and the pack contents themselves) - which means that our next round of packs will be better, and the ones after that will be better again.

Here are some fun stats
* The White indestructible crystal Median Buyout price = 1.4 million credits
* The Overlord’s Command Throne Median Buyout Price = 1.75 million credits
* The Dominator’s Command Throne Median buyout price = 1.50 million credits
* The imperial banner Median buyout price = 250 credits
* Ruddyscale Kowakian Monkey-Lizard median buyout price = 500,000 credits
* Elegant Loungewear Top median buyout price = 22,000 credits

This is interesting, in that the thrones are much less rare than the crystal. The metrics we have on what sells and what doesn't are excellent, which means that we should get better and better at pushing our resources towards things that players actually want.


Are there any truly absurd prices out there?
Absolutely. I can tell you one person bought an Imperial Banner off the GTN for 310000 credits.


Are we aware that some items can't be sold on the GTN (i.e. the game won't let you)?
Yeah, those are bugs, and in the case of the lightsaber crystals, ones that we should have caught easily, since it's happened multiple times. In every case I can think of off the top of my head, these are unintentional bugs, and should get fixed. It's not our intention that people should be standing around spamming the fleet about these.


Are you guys aware that there's a ton of dupe items clogging our inventory?
We totally are. This is particularly true of the more common bonus items that are repeated through multiple packs. We are constructing our next round of packs (i.e. the round that will start when Rise of the Hutt Cartel ships) with a definite eye on reducing this level of suck.


Why can't I sell some of this junk that is worthless on the GTN?
We are examining that possibility, and even if we did so, we would likely make the sale price negligible, to avoid having too harsh an effect on the economy (I don't want buying Cartel Packs to be a particularly effective and reliable way to get credits). That being said, there's a very good chance that some of these items may be retired in the future - an Imperial Banner or Dominator Throne that enjoys a certain value now might find that value greatly increased once the packs that sell these disappear - so you might want to selectively choose some of these to bank, rather than junk. This retirement may be permanent, or a temporary removal from service (like the McRib or the Disney DvD releases) That being said, we are still developing our strategy for how these items are retired and/or cycled into service. Once we have a plan, I will be sure we communicate it to the community at large.


It sucks that the Cartel Market/Cartel Packs takes away resources that could be spent on (my pet feature)!
It's quite the opposite, actually. The success of the market (and it has been quite successful) has given us the time and resources to do some ambitious things on Makeb, and plan some very ambitious things beyond. The success of the Cartel Market means that there will be more good stuff for ALL players, paying, subscribers, and free.

The Transcendent One: AH... THE ROGUE CONSTRUCT.
Nordom: Sense of closure: imminent.
Ingmar
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Reply #1 on: January 17, 2013, 01:27:08 PM

Resolution for the little kerfuffle over the 2 4 armor sets that changed looks last patch:

Quote
Hi everyone, as Damion mentioned in an earlier forum post, this was incredibly important for the development team to resolve. We think that we’ve found the best solution for all users affected by the changes made to the Spymaster, Phantom, Trailblazer, and Preceptor outfits in Patch 1.6.2. In Game Update 1.7 (which should be going live in the next month or so), we are going to offer versions of the aforementioned outfits as they appeared before the 1.6.2 changes in addition to the current versions that appear in the Cartel Market Packs. Players will be able to obtain (via Cartel Packs) both the “Classic” (pre 1.6.2) versions of the outfits and the current versions (post 1.6.2).

What about players who already purchased this before the 1.6.2 changes? Or even the players that enjoy the new looks? We’re going to do what’s best for all and in the next major Game Update, any player that has any pieces of the four outfits (Spymaster, Phantom, Trailbazer, and Preceptor) will receive the “Classic” version (pre 1.6.2) of those pieces as well, at no extra cost.

We will scan the bank, currently equipped items, and personal mail to check for the pieces to these outfits, so be sure to remove them from a Guild Bank before then (don’t worry, we will let people know well ahead of time when the next Game Update will go live). If we find that you own these pieces, we will mail you the “Classic” versions of these items. These extra outfit pieces will be unbound, so you may do whatever you like with them. If an item is on the GTN during the maintenance when we make this change, the auction will be canceled and you will receive both versions of the item in the mail after we come back out of maintenance.

We feel that this is the best possible design decision to make all of our players happy and we will continue to improve our internal processes in order to prevent a situation like this from happening again.

Thank you for your patience, and thank you for continuing to support Star Wars: The Old Republic.

The Transcendent One: AH... THE ROGUE CONSTRUCT.
Nordom: Sense of closure: imminent.
Rokal
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Reply #2 on: January 17, 2013, 01:32:05 PM

Damion Schubert on some Cartel Pack related stuff:
Quote
This retirement may be permanent, or a temporary removal from service (like the McRib or the Disney DvD releases)

Setting a high standard for themselves I see  awesome, for real
Raguel
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Reply #3 on: January 17, 2013, 01:40:57 PM


I'm hoping they make enough on Cartel stuff so I get more class/companion storyline stuffs, but I suspect he's talking about engame and pvp.
Rokal
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Reply #4 on: January 17, 2013, 01:58:00 PM


I'm hoping they make enough on Cartel stuff so I get more class/companion storyline stuffs, but I suspect he's talking about engame and pvp.

That's how it worked for DDO, LOTRO, and other successful F2P models. Don't see why it would be any different for SWTOR. They'll only continue to make money on the Cartel Market if people continue to want to play the game. Eventually that means new content.
koro
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Reply #5 on: January 17, 2013, 03:37:06 PM

The best thing about that big post about how they're addressing Phantom Chestguard-gate with the freebie items?

People are still bitching about it, demanding reimbursement for mod extractions and/or augment costs.

Bioware cannot possibly win.
Sjofn
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Reply #6 on: January 17, 2013, 03:40:00 PM

People are still bitching about it, demanding reimbursement for mod extractions and/or augment costs.

That is amazing. NEVER CHANGE, MMO PLAYERS

God Save the Horn Players
koro
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Reply #7 on: January 17, 2013, 05:21:48 PM

I honestly fully expected Bioware to just kind of suck it up, keep the changed items as they are, and take the PR hit. Actually making the mesh-less items available once again while also giving out free copies of them to anyone with the items on their person is something I'm genuinely pleasantly surprised at.
Ingmar
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Reply #8 on: January 18, 2013, 01:03:53 PM

Buff icon size scaling coming to UI customization options:

Quote
Hello,

I'm Cory Kolek, also a UI programmer here at Bioware Austin. I originally implemented the UI Customization feature, and I'm always looking for ways to improve it. I just finished adding the option to change the scale of your buffs and debuffs within the operation, party, player, and target frames. This change has recently entered testing, so look forward to it in a future Game Update!

The Transcendent One: AH... THE ROGUE CONSTRUCT.
Nordom: Sense of closure: imminent.
Ingmar
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Reply #9 on: January 18, 2013, 01:33:09 PM

More cartel pack stuff:

Quote
Do you have a pre-set number of packs and items set up ahead of time for a certain period of time?
We develop a set of these packs (we call them a 'Shipment') at one time. Shipment 1 will have 4 packs associated with them (not counting the cheap pack), with one additional pack coming out before Rise of the Hutts. After that, a new shipment will come out, likely with a new name (instead of 'Cartel Packs', they will be 'Contraband Packs', for example).

Developing a shipment has a long lead time. Most of the art for shipment 2 is already complete, and we are currently in planning stages for shipment 3. This is not to say that we can't slide things around, or pull something forward or get something in a hurry if we see a great idea or if something on the market really sells. But the capacity for this kind of movement is very limited.

We also want these packs to have a reasonable life post-removal. As a result, we philosophically resist actually adjusting the internal math of these packs (i.e. what's in them, at what drop rate) after they've been released, so that the value of the packs is a known quantity. This is not to say we never would do so if there was a serious problem -- but we really don't want to. Short form: there likely will be a time in the future where the GTN is the ONLY place to buy a Skip Tracer's Pack.


Are you afraid that greed will corrupt the game?
The cartel market funds the ability for players to play for free, which has allowed a huge number of players who couldn't or wouldn't play the game to do so now. This has resulted in more dev resources, and larger, more vibrant communities. And we've done so while still making market transactions mostly optional. I'm pretty much in the camp that we're on the Light Side on this, so far at least.


Why do these items currently have a price if they are unsellable?
Some game systems require a value for parts of the game to work. As an example, the GTN needs it to know what base price to set things to (and IIRC, doesn't let you put things up for sale that doesn't have a value). These items are currently hardcoded to not be sold to NPC vendors, despite their internal credit value.

The Transcendent One: AH... THE ROGUE CONSTRUCT.
Nordom: Sense of closure: imminent.
Tannhauser
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Reply #10 on: January 19, 2013, 03:04:24 PM

Buff icon size scaling coming to UI customization options:

Quote
Hello,

I'm Cory Kolek, also a UI programmer here at Bioware Austin. I originally implemented the UI Customization feature, and I'm always looking for ways to improve it. I just finished adding the option to change the scale of your buffs and debuffs within the operation, party, player, and target frames. This change has recently entered testing, so look forward to it in a future Game Update!

Thank the Maker!
Sky
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I love my TV an' hug my TV an' call it 'George'.


Reply #11 on: March 05, 2013, 03:05:25 PM

Quote
Beginning April 2, 2013, you will only be able to log in to the Game or Website using your
Display Name – Your email address will no longer be accepted from that point forward.

We want to inform you that beginning on April 2, 2013, logging in to the game or website will require your Display Name. Email addresses will no longer be accepted; your Display Name will be the only accepted option.

This new change to the log in procedure is being implemented for several reasons. This change increases the security of our game authentication system, which helps continue to keep the game protected from many security threats including account takeovers.
What the fuck, I've only been saying that since Rift started doing it. And we know why everyone started doing it that way... derp de sheep.
Fordel
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Reply #12 on: March 05, 2013, 03:10:15 PM

Display Name?


-edit- Oh just the forum name, K.
« Last Edit: March 05, 2013, 03:12:05 PM by Fordel »

and the gate is like I TOO AM CAPABLE OF SPEECH
Lantyssa
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Reply #13 on: March 05, 2013, 03:16:24 PM

Got home and saw the email.  About friggin' time someone realized it just increased the incidence of stolen accounts.

Hahahaha!  I'm really good at this!
koro
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Reply #14 on: March 05, 2013, 04:25:11 PM

It's just exchanging one poor login method for another.

What was really needed was a separate TOR-specific account name that was not your email and especially not your goddamn publicly displayed forum name, but no, we can't have that can we.

I especially like this one exchange Bioware's Security Dude had on the forums:

Quote from: Security Guy
Quote from: forum dude
so now everyone will know half of what you use to login?
iuno theres a reason why something like steam doesn't show people your account name...

You should log on to Steam again - they currently only use the equivalent of DisplayName, and that name is what you are known as to all your friends (and in the community section of Steam for that matter).

Since, you know... that's not how Steam works at all.


Edit: Of course, none of this even really matters since TOR isn't much of a target for account swipers. Outside of Legacy perks and the auction house, credits are more or less worthless, and thus the bulk of the reason to nab accounts is pointless.
« Last Edit: March 05, 2013, 04:30:48 PM by koro »
ajax34i
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Reply #15 on: March 06, 2013, 04:46:45 AM

For the sake of clarity, they're only removing the OPTION to put in the email address as the logon ID.  They already enabled forum names to let you into the game when they went F2P; it's been changed for a while now.
Ingmar
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Reply #16 on: May 25, 2013, 04:38:19 PM

Timetables for upcoming stuff:

Quote
Hello everyone,

My name is Bruce Maclean and I am a Senior Producer here at BioWare Austin. I know there have been a lot of questions around the forums about what kind of content you can expect from us this year and so I’m here today to give you all a bit of information about what we’re working on bringing to you this summer!

First up, Game Update 2.2, which is currently targeted for launch on June 11th:
Nightmare Mode Terror From Beyond. It’s got vicious new mechanics and is definitely not for the faint of heart. I’m very excited for you to see the new gear that comes with this, which uses a new appearance system we’ve developed for armor and weapons called ‘Scrolling UVs’.
New Guild Bonuses! Players in guilds currently receive a +5% experience bonus, but now every 5 active players in the guild will add an additional 1% bonus to XP and reputation, up to a maximum bonus of 10% each.
Crafters can now craft Underworld gear! But don’t RE that piece if you are still using it…
Unified fleet chat channel for each faction, for easier group finding without having to hop between instances.

We’ve seen a lot of requests for a rerun of our Double XP weekends. Well, okay! We’d like to help you stay cool in the heat of the summer with three weekends starting June 22nd and continuing through July 7th. The third and last weekend will actually start early on Thursday the 4th of July, in case you are enjoying a long Independence Day weekend.

By July 9th Ops groups will have had four weeks to cut their teeth on Nightmare Mode Terror From Beyond. That’s when we will launch Nightmare Mode Scum and Villainy as a part of Game Update 2.2.2! New mechanics and unique loot for you.

July 23rd look for a return of the Relics of the Gree Event for a nice two week long run. Per community request the Event will scaled up to level 55 on this next run!

August 6th is our target date for Game Update 2.3, which we are working on right now and will be our biggest update since 2.0. Some of the bigger parts of this update are:
New Flashpoints
New Daily Area
New Recurring Event
Significant graphical upgrades

This isn’t an exhaustive list, and we are also working on some longer term stuff. Sometimes we have been averse to discussing specific dates well in advance, because we aren’t going to release anything unless we feel it is ready to go live and we don’t want to upset folks if we move a date back. Well I think we should just tell you what date the teams are shooting for, and if we don’t hit them we’ll just tell you why. Radical thinking, I know. As we get closer we’ll have a lot more juicy details on these - keep your eyes peeled to the forums and SWTOR.com for more information. Also, for those who are curious about the next updates to PvP, I will just say… apart from minor tweaks (like stunbreak abilities cooldown being reset on death in 2.2) you should look forward to Game Update 2.4. /rubshands

The Transcendent One: AH... THE ROGUE CONSTRUCT.
Nordom: Sense of closure: imminent.
Ingmar
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Reply #17 on: August 08, 2013, 12:28:03 PM

As good a place for this as any, found this kind of interesting:

http://www.swtor.com/blog/developer-update-color-palette-upgrade-game-update-2.3

The Transcendent One: AH... THE ROGUE CONSTRUCT.
Nordom: Sense of closure: imminent.
Evildrider
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Reply #18 on: August 08, 2013, 01:05:57 PM

As good a place for this as any, found this kind of interesting:

http://www.swtor.com/blog/developer-update-color-palette-upgrade-game-update-2.3

It's noticeable and makes the game look better imo.  I like it.
Tannhauser
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Reply #19 on: August 08, 2013, 02:04:29 PM

As good a place for this as any, found this kind of interesting:

http://www.swtor.com/blog/developer-update-color-palette-upgrade-game-update-2.3

Haha a teal and orange palette.
Ingmar
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Reply #20 on: November 20, 2013, 08:40:25 PM

EDIT: Never mind, I got taken in by a thread necromancer.

The Transcendent One: AH... THE ROGUE CONSTRUCT.
Nordom: Sense of closure: imminent.
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