Knights of the Eternal Throne [Expansion Discussion]

[quras]

Question. Does TOR drop a pre-expansion patch, similar to how WoW does? Like a few weeks to a month before the expansion actually launches. The patch usually contains things like class changes and stuff. Or does all that come at the same time in December when the expansion hits?

All at once on the release date. They don't really have perexpansion patches like wow. For SoR, they did have some really good FP that drove that story but that's the only time I can remember something like that happening before the expansion.

With all 9 new chapters coming out at launch and the way KotFE ending, I don't think there will prexpansion stuff even for classes.

[Friendlyimmolation]

The datamined spoilers don't fill me with confidence for the future of this game. I won't be surprised if they make this the last expansion.

Did they add anything new to the datamined stuff or is it still the same?

[quras]

Did they add anything new to the datamined stuff or is it still the same?

This is the last update from date miners that I know of.

https://torcommunity.com/database/up...-0-pts-6-mined

It gives a bit more information if you have not seen it already.

There is also a live stream happening today to go over Galactic Command.

Originally Posted by SWTOR

Hey folks,

We are going to be hosting our first KOTET livestream on Monday, October 17th at 2PM Pacific (4PM Central). We will talking through the recent Eternal Throne announcement, going through an overview of the new Galactic Command system, and more. Join Ben, Charles, and myself as we kick off our first Eternal Throne livestream.

When: Monday, October 17th
When: 2PM Pacific (4PM Central)
Where: https://www.twitch.tv/swtor

-eric

Originally Posted by SWTOR

We will talk generally about Uprisings, but details will be coming a bit later on.

-eric

Doesn't look like we'll get much information on the only new playable content content coming just yet.

[Chantique]

So its true that Ravage/BladeDance is an instant skill now with a boring new one slash animation?

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Don't even get me started on that giant pie of "what the fuck, lore" -____-

If it makes you feel better, my character isn't wielding Ashbringer

I see him having his own powerful weapon. DEALWITHITBLIZZ

[Edge-]

Doesn't look like we'll get much information on the only new playable content content coming just yet.

*sigh*

Guess they think drip feeding information is still a successful strategy. Eric is fucking useless and needs to be fired.

[quras]

*sigh*

Guess they think drip feeding information is still a successful strategy. Eric is fucking useless and needs to be fired.

I can only guess that when you have that little content to talk about, you really have to spread it out pretty thin.

And yes, Eric and that whole community manager thing he is suppose to be doing is a cluster "F".



EDIT......

An overview of today's live-stream:

Originally Posted by SWTOR

Hey folks,

Happy Monday morning to you! Today is going to be the Galactic Command Overview livestream and I wanted to let you know a few things about the stream. Let's take a look at the schedule of what we are going to go over on today's stream:

• Dark vs Light Event Status and Timing
• The Knights of the Eternal Throne Announcement Recap
• Overview of Galactic Command System
• What is Command Rank?
• What are Command Crates?
• Current Subscriber Promotions
• The Eternal Throne Livestream and Blog plan

Wrap-up
One of the things that we are going to touch on during the stream are the general itemization changes that are happening in Eternal Throne. This topic can get very complex and so we aren't going to be going into a ton of detail on the livestream. However, once the stream is over I am going to be making a couple of forum posts which will provide some more insight into our itemization plans and be a place where you can ask questions you may have about them. I will stick around in the thread after the stream and throughout the week answering any questions you guys have.

I will see you later today on the stream

-eric

[Katchii]

I really wish this game had Blizzards quality (or at least ability) of Community Managers and FFXIV team to put out content.

Star Wars: The Old Repubic IP could be fucking epic with community managers that could engage with the community and a team that actually kept schedules and put out solid content on a regular basis, with BioWare level story telling (which lately has honestly been pretty shitty with the whole non-force user suspension of disbelief bullshit).

I honestly do enjoy this game, but it's SO difficult to stay excited when they throw shit show "events" like this with no meaningful information and expect the community to eat it all up. They're pissing on us and calling it rain...

[quras]

You can now read the overview of Galactic command here:

https://torcommunity.com/database/de...mmand-overview

A quick over view of a couple things I didn't like right off the bat.

• RANDOM gearing at end game. That one is a cluster "F" for me.
• Everything you do at level 70 only gets some points and that going into command ranks and each rank given a better crate for end game loot that is RANDOM for gearing. Were not even sure it trade-able though legacy like it used to me when moving armorings, mods and enchacement. It seems it will be static gear and you destroy gear that toon cannot use for more points. Making sure you might not ever put together your AC set much less an alt specs set.
• No gear coming from end game bosses. Just decos and mounts. Depending on how many points you need, there is a chance of running an entire OPS and getting nothing but some points on a scale.
• Nothing legacy in command ranks. Every toon has to level up command ranks to get a random chance at gear.

I threw together some BW forum stuff for a quick read at well.

F2P and Preferred. You're out from doing anything in the new system so no gear for you at all even with weekly passes it seems.

Originally Posted by SWTOR

F2P and Preferred players will be unable to earn end-game gear since they will not have access to Galactic Command (GC). If they were a subscriber who went preferred and had earned gear through GC we won't take it away, but they will be unable to earn additional gear (through Command Ranks) until they subscribe. They can still get gear through Crafting, that is unchanged.
-eric

Originally Posted by SWTOR

• Once you hit level 70, the source of end-game gear will be Command Crates from Galactic Command.
• Most activities in the game will earn Command Experience Points (CXP), which will earn you Command Ranks. Each time your Command Rank increases, you earn a Command Crate.
• The higher your Command Rank, the better gear that will drop from your Command Crates.
• The highest difficulty Operations and Uprisings, along with Ranked Warzones are intended to be the fastest ways to earn CXP. This means they are the fastest way to get the best gear.
• Both PvP and PvE gear will come from Command Crates. Their gear is now shared as Expertise is being removed (head to this thread to discuss PvP/PvE itemization specifically).
• Gear will no longer drop from bosses as all gear will come from Command Crates. All cosmetic/unique drops will still remain on those bosses (Stronghold Decorations, Wings of the Architect, etc.).
• Players will be able to craft comparable item level gear without set bonuses.

Originally Posted by SWTOR

• Expertise is being removed from the game.
• Any color crystals which have Expertise on them will be converted to a new type of color crystal – Mastery.
• There is no longer an Expertise requirement to get into Ranked Warzones, this will be replaced with a Valor requirement.
• PvE and PvP will share the same gear in Eternal Throne.
• Crystals and Warzone Commendations will also be phased out in Eternal Throne, we will have more details on our conversion plans in the coming weeks.

Originally Posted by SWTOR

Priority Ops will no longer exist. They are sort of replaced in that Operations can be the daily bonus, which will award bonus CXP for doing them.

Quote: Originally Posted by Rolodome View Post
Is there a cap to command rank? As in, for example, you reach "level 100 command rank" and you can progress no further?
EDIT: Also, will any of this affect gearing prior to level 70?

There is a cap. When you hit the cap you continue to earn CXP and fill your bar so that you "level." When this happens and you are at the cap you will get a Command Crate but not level up.

No effect below level 70.
-eric

Originally Posted by SWTOR

Current Commendations will be going away, we will have more details in the coming weeks on their conversion.

Quote: Originally Posted by De-mu-noki View Post
First of, are these random drops, that is to say that if I'm extremely unlucky I can't get the best earpiece for my char at all?
Secondly, are you saying that if a player grinds H2's for long enough he can get Nightmare gear?

Yup, the drops will be random. The item type is determined by your Advanced Class and the item rating is determined by your Command Rank (higher rank = higher item rating). Keep in mind that you can always earn more Crates and that you can disintegrate any duplicate or unwanted items into CXP to get your next Crate faster.
Yes. All end-game gear (level 70+) can be earned by doing almost any activity. However, someone doing Nightmare (Master) level Operations, as an example, will get there substantially faster than someone doing easy/solo content.

Originally Posted by SWTOR

Yup, lockouts will still remain in place. Although they don't directly drop gear they will still drop their other cosmetic rewards and will be one of the best sources of Command Experience Points.

-eric

Originally Posted by SWTOR

Bonus aside, it is the goal that fastest way to earn CXP will be through the hardest difficulty Operations and Uprisings, along with Ranked Arenas.

-eric

[Aeluron Lightsong]

*sigh*

Guess they think drip feeding information is still a successful strategy. Eric is fucking useless and needs to be fired.

Well you can only expect so much from Bioware these days( I feel bad for them, I don't trust EA with anything these days)

[derpkitteh]

so like, we're in a market where a f2p system like ESO's is widely praised and seems to be quite a good system for the game.

now EA is doubling down on swtor's god awful f2p system by making f2p people unable to get the best gear.

i don't understand how executives can be so out of touch. they're people, human beings, with functioning reason and sentience. it takes basic skills of observation to see that your model is shit and one vastly superior to yours is doing massively better. basic skills of observation, that's all that's needed.

i honestly feel like they want to push people away from the game, like they want to just end it. that really pisses me off, cause i really don't want swtor to end. i've put a lot of time into the game(and money), and i love my characters. i don't want to lose all of that.

[Kithelle]

MAN I hope so.......

That is so damned little to call an expac but we all know how BW/EA rolls amirite????/

Is it BW/EA though? I've normally been happy with BW till EA got their dirty greedy claws into them...and since the game has gotten worse and worse.

- - - Updated - - -

so like, we're in a market where a f2p system like ESO's is widely praised and seems to be quite a good system for the game.

now EA is doubling down on swtor's god awful f2p system by making f2p people unable to get the best gear.

i don't understand how executives can be so out of touch. they're people, human beings, with functioning reason and sentience. it takes basic skills of observation to see that your model is shit and one vastly superior to yours is doing massively better. basic skills of observation, that's all that's needed.

i honestly feel like they want to push people away from the game, like they want to just end it. that really pisses me off, cause i really don't want swtor to end. i've put a lot of time into the game(and money), and i love my characters. i don't want to lose all of that.

It's EA...all they know is greed.

Isn't the first game the ruined and wont be the last...I used to love the battlefront chain of games...but their shitty and lazy design of it and charging you as much if not more than the game costs for the DLC to actually make the game feel like a full game.4

[Katchii]

So... what's the point of grinding for the best gear? You don't even need good gear to get better gear since you can just blow through Heroics, Flashpoints and low level Operations to earn an endless supply of CXP without ever even setting foot into the hardest content.....which has been the hardest content for the last 2 fucking year, at least.

What's the incentive to level up Command Rank? All I'm seeing here is a grind for the sake of a grind to get a higher ilevel just for the sake of HAVING a higher ilevel, because having that higher ilevel doesn't really get you anything you didn't have before.

Am I missing something? Or is the system THAT retarded?

[quras]

So... what's the point of grinding for the best gear? You don't even need good gear to get better gear since you can just blow through Heroics, Flashpoints and low level Operations to earn an endless supply of CXP without ever even setting foot into the hardest content.....which has been the hardest content for the last 2 fucking year, at least.

What's the incentive to level up Command Rank? All I'm seeing here is a grind for the sake of a grind to get a higher ilevel just for the sake of HAVING a higher ilevel, because having that higher ilevel doesn't really get you anything you didn't have before.

Am I missing something? Or is the system THAT retarded?

If you want any end game gear at all (with set bonuses), the incentive is to continue to level command ranks up because many of the crates you get will not have anything you can use and BW made sure to say there is a chance you will never get what you need for your class. It seems BW expects you to destroy that useless gear for a few more command rank points. That tells me legacy gear transfer is going away.

It seems like the days of sending alts armorings, mods and enhancements through legacy is no over. Each toon having to do the grind through the same old content. Some content getting you command points faster than others but still no not much new to play.

Level 8 toons. See all those stories with alts and suddenly now, the alt friendly game of SWTOR seems to have decided to not be alt friendly at all and not just with the one story for all thats barely repeatable but for gearing as well.

So far this has been a rather disappointing bit of information about swtor.

[Katchii]

If you want any end game gear at all (with set bonuses), the incentive is to continue to level command ranks up because many of the crates you get will not have anything you can use and BW made sure to say there is a chance you will never get what you need for your class. [Snip]

So far this has been a rather disappointing bit of information about swtor.

That's kind of my point. I'm actually asking what is the incentive for grinding crates that may or may not give you gear that you don't even NEED in order to grind for better gear. In other games, you need to get better gear in order to attempt the more difficult content which drops even better gear, so you can work on the even harder content which drops even better gear, etc... With this system, you don't need good gear to grind for better gear you just need to continuously grind whatever content you want in order to gain CXP to increase your Command Rank for a random loot box that has higher level gear in it that you can hopefully use. And that content is likely going to be the same content that's been around for years since they're not adding any new end game operations. And on top of this, you have to PAY A SUBSCRIPTION in order to even advance your Command Rank and earn the loot boxes.

What the actual fuck are BioWare and EA smoking that they think this is a good idea? This is awful.

[WoWGoneBad]

Soo,

I was just watching the Twitch live stream and Command ranks are for Subs ONLY!!!! I kinda knew this would happen but WTF. Bad enough they just went P2W with NEEDIGN to be a sub to get higher end gear from GC but.......

And from what I am seeing, no Ops or new FPs.... only this Uprising krap that I can only HOPE will have some sort of Pub vs Imp action along with KotET Uprisings.


I was JUST starting to get used to living with F2P until that live stream....... I am now done. I am going back to WoW. At least there we get SOMETHING with our subs.

[Edge-]

Soo,

I was just watching the Twitch live stream and Command ranks are for Subs ONLY!!!! I kinda knew this would happen but WTF. Bad enough they just went P2W with NEEDIGN to be a sub to get higher end gear from GC but.......

And from what I am seeing, no Ops or new FPs.... only this Uprising krap that I can only HOPE will have some sort of Pub vs Imp action along with KotET Uprisings.


I was JUST starting to get used to living with F2P until that live stream....... I am now done. I am going back to WoW. At least there we get SOMETHING with our subs.

Yeah, I read through the post about it (http://www.swtor.com/info/news/blog/20161017) and was intrigued but wanted to spend more time thinking about it because I'm not sure if I like this approach or not...and then this

http://www.swtor.com/community/showt...99#post9081399

Yeah, nope. If they go through with this, I'm probably done with this game altogether. They can literally go fuck themselves for deciding that this is acceptable.

[WoWGoneBad]

Yeah, I read through the post about it (http://www.swtor.com/info/news/blog/20161017) and was intrigued but wanted to spend more time thinking about it because I'm not sure if I like this approach or not...and then this

http://www.swtor.com/community/showt...99#post9081399

Yeah, nope. If they go through with this, I'm probably done with this game altogether. They can literally go fuck themselves for deciding that this is acceptable.

WoW.......... just fucking WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! whelp I give it about a year before they are ready to move to one server since the ONLY people who sill still play are Subs. I was going to sub up after launch to get the story but FUCK THAT even.........

I will still play for now just for kicks..(nah who am I kidding) Think it is time to find a new one.

[Edge-]

WoW.......... just fucking WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! whelp I give it about a year before they are ready to move to one server since the ONLY people who sill still play are Subs. I was going to sub up after launch to get the story but FUCK THAT even.........

I will still play for now just for kicks..(nah who am I kidding) Think it is time to find a new one.

Yeah, I was going to sub up at the start at the very least like I did with KotFE but it's not worth it. I'll hold off, but if they end up launching with this system unchanged I'll probably end up uninstalling. I'll just catch the chapter 15 cutscenes for KotFE (have everything up through 14) on YouTube and call it a day.

God damnit I hate how much BioWare has fucked up with this game time and time and time and time again.

[WoWGoneBad]

Looking at these changes...

Its like they took WQ rewards from WoW and the Elite Ranks from Firefail and combined them into SWTOR........

BOTH games players HATE these changes and it is KILLING both of those games. Hell FireFail is already to about 200+ players(just ready for shutdown) and WoW.............

I just dont know where to go for a good and challenging game anymore and that is bad........