Devs Q&A for 05/12

[Derah]

I know its kinda pointless to respond to him since he's banned and all that but what the hell.

So you and others complain about how some/one companion gets big story options and that is appearently completely valid but when I ask for companions to have options in battle I'm the one with a LACK OF IMAGINATION.

Yes, because story-wise there's nothing you can do about it, but in battle, there is.

Your point is: DPS-exclusive classes can't use DPS companions because its not viable.

Our response: They are viable, if you don't know how to use your tools to its max effectiveness, the problem lies within yourself. Try to improve. Hell, I just made a Sith Warrior.... Made her Marauder (DPS exclusive) and I got as my first companion Vette. Am I somehow crippled by this? no way, I kill SUPER FAST. All I gotta do is keep vette well geared, have her attack my own targets to burn them quick (or in case of strong targets, I have her attack a different one to spread the damage) and I have no problems.

My Point: Jaessa Willsam can be configured to be light or dark, so that she can suit to your playstyle. You are an evil warrior? make Jaessa evil, You are a nice warrior? make Jaessa nice. But Azshara doesn't have the same luxury. She's good, and if you play evil, and female, gaining affection with her is BROKEN.

BROKEN.

There is no get-around that, there is no fix, there is nothing on your end you can do to improve that. She will disaprove OF EVERYTHING you do if you are evil, and if you are female, ALL GIFTS give a teeny-tiny-dinky affection boost, while every other companion for every other class has a list of favorite gifts that do give nice bonuses.

In short, Trying to max affection with Azshara as a dark-side female, is ABSURDLY HARD. And there's NOTHING we can do about it. Unlike your silly problem of "LOLOLOL I'm DPS gunslinger and my DPS companion isn't hitting hard enough"

duh, if she's not hitting hard, give her better gear.

now you tell me how to gain more affection with azshara as a female dark-side inquisitor, when every gift gives at most 20 affection points, and every conversation option gives a whooping -40 points.

For example, on my agent, I'm light-side, and as such Kaliyo disaproves everything I do, but at least I can keep her affection up by using gifts, she has a long list of favorite gifts, and they give nice boosts to her affection rating. Give her a rank 3 weapon and she gains up to 200 affection points.

Azshara is unique in that gifts only work for her if you are MALE, if you play as female, ALL gifts give either 0 affection, or a teeny pathetic ammount. Now this wouldn't be a problem if I at least could turn her evil, so that she likes the conversation options I choose, but no, I can't do that either.

See the problem?

Jeez you seem smart in other threads but you prove to be a hypocritical ignorant jerk here shutting down my want for a better game.

So, I never called you any names, nor was I rude regarding your stand on the game, you on the other hand respond to me with insults, call me a hypocrite, and on top of that an ignorant jerk.

And somehow I'm the bad gal?

does not computes.

[VenomousCarnage]

Your point is: DPS-exclusive classes can't use DPS companions because its not viable.

Our response: They are viable, if you don't know how to use your tools to its max effectiveness, the problem lies within yourself. Try to improve. Hell, I just made a Sith Warrior.... Made her Marauder (DPS exclusive) and I got as my first companion Vette. Am I somehow crippled by this? no way, I kill SUPER FAST. All I gotta do is keep vette well geared, have her attack my own targets to burn them quick (or in case of strong targets, I have her attack a different one to spread the damage) and I have no problems.

Your play style =/= everyone play style. Your skill level =/= Everyones skill level.
Just because you can somehow manage with a pure DPS companion dosn't mean everyone can and will. There are little to no stories for companions that explicitly or even hint at why they can't do at least one other role to compliment your Advanced class.

My Point: Jaessa Willsam can be configured to be light or dark, so that she can suit to your playstyle. You are an evil warrior? make Jaessa evil, You are a nice warrior? make Jaessa nice. But Azshara doesn't have the same luxury. She's good, and if you play evil, and female, gaining affection with her is BROKEN.

BROKEN.

There is no get-around that, there is no fix, there is nothing on your end you can do to improve that.

Companion Gifts! they are all over the place. I get them easily so so should you, or is that point all of a sudden invalid because I say it?

ALL GIFTS give a teeny-tiny-dinky affection boost, while every other companion for every other class has a list of favorite gifts that do give nice bonuses. In short, Trying to max affection with Azshara as a dark-side female, is ABSURDLY HARD.

I never had a big problem with her affection while evil, my friend maxxed her out and I never heard him complain (I'll ask him later, I'll post if you make up his answer for him because of your experiences.

And to be clear at this point, I never said there should never be the darkside/lightside personality for more companions I said it was hypocritical fpor you to ask something of that for more/all companions while also denying the existence of battle options for companions

Then you go really mature and say this about my problem...

Unlike your silly problem of "LOLOLOL I'm DPS gunslinger and my DPS companion isn't hitting hard enough"

duh, if she's not hitting hard, give her better gear.

now you tell me how to gain more affection with azshara as a female dark-side inquisitor, when every gift gives at most 20 affection points, and every conversation option gives a whooping -40 points.

Just like you should get better/more gifts for your little problem you bawl about while putting down mine and others. Get more gifts and stop whining just like I should get more gear/try harder and stop whining.

Or since people are sooo stuck on story for companions being soooo crucial to battle options (even though in many not even the slightest hint in the story rules out the option of tank or healers) maybe a darkside inquisitor shouldn't be running around with a lightside companion since you are so good at playing with any companion you get with equal skill and ease. Just makes story sense right? Oh, but now YOU want (not need) the option so it's ok to ask for the option!

Having every character have the possibility of being evil or nice dosn't work with every story. I guess you are out of luck. Tell me a point in the story that says a companion like Kira can't be a tank or Risha can't be a healer then I might agree with the story limits peoples battle options BS.

then there is the matter of ease in which these changes can be made. To change every companion to have a lighyside/darkside story personality would be a massive overhaul of voice acting and combing through every quest to change affection gains whereas my idea means 2 or 3 ability tweaks/replacemments (likely copy-pasted from other companions and at most a slightly new animation). I know already they have done quite a few of these changes. Corso Used to have an awful harpoon ability and they changed it to a jump/jetpack.

See the problem?

In short, No. I don't see the problem just like you don't see my DPS problem, yet I would welcome the idea of your solution but know it's a bit much. Yet it seems everyone is firmly against my suggestion of battle options with the weak excuse of story is set for companions (ironically you want to massively change a lot of companions story)

I didn't have a problem as a darkside inquisitor with Ashara. I admit I was a male, but I didn't romance her until very late and did quite a few negative hits before and after that. The switch to what gifts matter dosn't change untill you start the romance with a conversation, even still she does disaprove of everything darkside all the same. Jedi's are nice as a companion so I used her carefully and I didn't have a problem at all before I started romancing her.
My friend I mentioned before was/is a female Inquisitor I'll ask him if he had the Oh so painful experience you seem to suffer on about but I doubt it since he never mentioned her being tough.

If YOU are having a problem with only getting 20 per gift maybe you should get better gifts of higher level.

So, I never called you any names, nor was I rude regarding your stand on the game, you on the other hand respond to me with insults, call me a hypocrite, and on top of that an ignorant jerk.

And somehow I'm the bad gal?

does not computes.

You were a hypocrite (as well as many others), you were ignorant by feverently denying that people like me and the person who brought up this point could have problems with the limited options the game allows. And also Ignorant when people thought of solutions, you shot them down because of the weak arguement of "story excludes them of these roles", then came up with an equally if not more wild solution to a problem of your own (becoming the hypocite in doing that)

To restate, I would welcome a chance to have a darkside/lightside option for each companion but it is not a crucial problem for everyone and would require much more work then the solution to the DPS companion problem you claim is also not crucial.

[Koalachan]

Are you surprised people have different skill levels or something? Are you that self centered you think everyone can or should play exactly as you do? By denying options it seems that you are. You'd rather do nothing then see people get helped/have logical options

So. by me saying that you can play with who you want to play with, I'M being self centered?

Trust me, if anyone knows about the varying degrees of skill level people may or may not have, it's me. You don't know all the people I play with. Some of them, they're great guys and all, I love playing with them and helping them out, but let's just say I won't be running Nightmare Ops with them. Or most likely not even Hardmode. You know, the guys who are 2 levels ABOVE their class quests and still need help. Yea. But even those guys still picked the companions they wanted.

[Derah]

@VenomousCarnage.

I don't even know, nor do I wanna know why are you meddling in something that wasn't addresed to you, that post was aimed at someone else. I will say (before stepping down from this thread, I refuse to be dragged down to a pointless internet fight thread) that the affection issue is a biggie.

No other companion is as hard to max out in affection as Azshara.

Companion Gifts! they are all over the place. I get them easily so so should you, or is that point all of a sudden invalid because I say it?

You say companion gifts are everywhere, wanna know my response? Here it is:

http://www.torhead.com/npc/hAbptyD/ashara-zavros

Notice a pattern? no? too subtle? how about this?

http://www.swtorface.com/p/sith-inqu...nion-list.html

Has it hit you yet?

no?

Fine, I'm a nice person, I'll help you out.

SHE ONLY LIKES GIFTS FROM MEN!

That's a problem, that makes maxing out her affection a HUGE pain in the ass when playing female. Now, that wouldn't be such a problem IF we could max her out via conversation options, but wait, can't do that if playing dark-side, she will disaprove everything.

That's just not fair. No other companion in the entire game has this issue. This is a serious issue.

And to be clear at this point, I never said there should never be the darkside/lightside personality for more companions I said it was hypocritical fpor you to ask something of that for more/all companions while also denying the existence of battle options for companions

The thing is, as far as battle goes, there is ALWAYS something to be done to address this issue. You could swap companions. Use the one suited to your fighting style, then swap back to the one you actually like for conversations. Or gear up your favorite companion so that you can battle efficiently.

Now you tell me how to address the issue with Azshara, because the issue atm is that when playing darkside FEMALE, not only she disaproves everything I do, she doesn't have any favorite gift, will actually turn down most gifts in the game, and the few she will accept, will only give the barest min of the min in terms of affection.

And there's nothing to be done on our end to solve that issue.

Just like you should get better/more gifts for your little problem you bawl about while putting down mine and others. Get more gifts and stop whining just like I should get more gear/try harder and stop whining.

Did you happened to check that little chart up there? ya know, the one that says azshara only accepts gifts from MEN, (And only men who are romancing her) I'm assuming you did not, if your only advice is "get more gifts". DUH I'M GETTING MORE GIFTS THE PROBLEM IS THEY GIVE A SHITTY AMOUNT OF AFFECTION, while for every other companion, gifts actually give a ton of it.

maybe a darkside inquisitor shouldn't be running around with a lightside companion since you are so good at playing with any companion you get with equal skill and ease.

And I don't. Both for battle as well as story I run around with companions that match the personality of my toons.

My agent is light-side, so I don't run around with Kaliyo, since she disaproves everything, I run around with Vector who aproves everything, we kill stuff just fine even when he's not a tank, and I keep Kaliyo's affection up with gifts.

Wanna know why I want Ashara to get the affection up? because it affects CRAFTING. If affection did nothing at all, I'd let azshara rot for all I care, Xalec is a far better apprentice anyways. But no, Affection is a critical part on maxing your proffesions, it decreases crafting time, increases crit-craft rates, it reduces the time it takes to complete a crew skill mission, and increases the odds of a critical successfull crew mission.

Oh, but now YOU want (not need) the option so it's ok to ask for the option!

Actually I do need the option, because as stated above, affection is a critical part for your professions. I can't max Azhsara out by taking her with me during my story, and I can't max her out via gifts without spending a fortune NEEDLESSLY when every other companion for every other class has a bigger list of gifts they like.

Having every character have the possibility of being evil or nice dosn't work with every story. I guess you are out of luck. Tell me a point in the story that says a companion like Kira can't be a tank or Risha can't be a healer then I might agree with the story limits peoples battle options BS.

Hey i'm not asking for every character to be evil or nice. All I'm asking is to give us female gamers a bit more leeway into maxing affection with this prissy little bitch. Not a single other companion is as hard to max as her. If she reacted the same way to every player, ok fine. But no, she only reacts this way to darkside female inquisitors. That's just not fair no matter how you slice it.

For battle, every companion needs to have a single role for combat, or they will all feel the same, no variety between them. Like I said, if you like Kira so much but she can't tank, just use a tanking companion, then swap back to Kira when you go back to turn quests in. Is that so hard? sadly, the solution to MY problem is far more difficult, because every gift gives a DINKY ammunt of affection, and I can't get any more IN ANY OTHER WAY.

I didn't have a problem as a darkside inquisitor with Ashara. I admit I was a male, but I didn't romance her until very late and did quite a few negative hits before and after that. The switch to what gifts matter dosn't change untill you start the romance with a conversation, even still she does disaprove of everything darkside all the same. Jedi's are nice as a companion so I used her carefully and I didn't have a problem at all before I started romancing her.

This right here, nullifies your point. For MALE players there's not a problem. None whatsoever. Doesn't matter how late you start the romance, just start it up, shower her with gifts, and leave her on the ship. And presto. problem fixed.

Can't say the same for me.

My friend I mentioned before was/is a female Inquisitor I'll ask him if he had the Oh so painful experience you seem to suffer on about but I doubt it since he never mentioned her being tough.

If YOU are having a problem with only getting 20 per gift maybe you should get better gifts of higher level.

I would not have this problem at all, if EVERY SINGLE CLASS had that "one hard companion" ya know, out of your 5 there's always that one that is so hard to max out. but no, this problem is relegated EXCLUSIVELY to inquisitors. No wait, lemme correct that. This problem is exclusively to Dark Side inquisitors. No wait............ still needs more correction. This problem is exclusively for FEMALE DARK SIDE inquisitors.

I don't hate it that there's a problem, I hate it that there is a problem that only affects ONE group of players as opposed to all. Your problem has an easy fix, mine doesnt.

Like I said, we all have those companions that are against our personalities, on my agent that's kaliyo, I just leave her on the ship, and raise her affection via gifts. I'm using a DPS companion (Vector) and he does just fine. If in your particular case you're not doing fine with your DPS companion and want her to be tank, just swap to a tank companion, and when you are talking to NPCs swap back to your beloved kira.

Not even gonna bother quoting the last part of your post. Like I said, I refuse to become involved in a silly internet figth, I'm better than that. Wanna call me a hypocrite? be my guest, see if I care.

Me, I'm moving on, just hitting that lovely report button, and dusting off.

/have a good day.

[Darsithis]

Tone it down guys, and keep it civil.

[Derah]

hey I'm keeping it civil, I'm not the one bashing others and calling them jerks/hypocrites >_>

[Redblade]

*SNIP*

A piece of friendly advice on the issue, Belsavis dailies still gives affection.

[Derah]

A piece of friendly advice on the issue, Belsavis dailies still gives affection.

Not there yet T_T

Still, I find it extremely unfair, that only female darkside inquisitors must have such a hard time raising affection to this one companion.

it would be an entirely different situation if every class had one companion that is just plain-simply hard to get affection with, but no, this is a female-darkside-inquisitor exclusive issue. And one that would be easy to fix. Just let Azshara accept gifts regardless of the gender of the player. Is that so hard?

[Redblade]

Still, I find it extremely unfair, that only female darkside inquisitors must have such a hard time raising affection to this one companion.

I don't disagree, with the Belsavis dailies you can do a few hundred affection a day at least though so it's a solution to the issue, but yeah the design could have been better on that one.

[Lord Blackmore]

I'm late to this party, but I like how companions work. I have to pick the appropriate companion based on the situation.

[Deleted]

I mostly level my companion's affection for the presence bonus and the extra heroic moment seconds. Ashara is a pain in the ass and I agree that they should either change he likes and dislikes or make it that she gives more affection from gifts. As it is now, it's actually very bad.

As far as companions and their roles, it's mostly hard for your first character and you'll do be forced to use a healer mostly. Overall though, with presence bonuses and while you unlock more affection bonuses, both your alts and main would cut solo PvE content like a hot knife through butter

[VenomousCarnage]

I said I would get back to this so I am.

I asked my friend with the Female Sith Inquisitor. I confirmed he played darkside and he assured me the Ashara "Problem" was not as bad as everyone whines about. It's hardly "broken".

He says he maxxed her affection out not too soon after the rest. There was no great gap of grinding to get her to catch up. He laughed that people make such a fuss over it because he was worried about it but then never noticed it being so bad.

So while people may whine a blubber over the issue and even attack me being a hypocrite because I don't share their problems but I should totally agree with theirs, while they ignore/fight my problems.

It's not as bad as people whine about. Ashara may be different or even slightly more difficult (in SOME circumstances) but far from "Broken".

*EDIT: I even just generally asked general chat on the Empire side and several people said it's not nearly as bad as any forum would imply/whine about

Next time if your gonna whine about an issue maybe care about others (like my DPS companions not synching well with my DPS character and having no option for a different role and fixing it like companions such as Corso or Tuno has.) if you expect people to care about your exaggerated "problem" back.

People say it's easy to be a dps player and have a DPS only companion around and I have a problem with it. I've heard people say it's not so bad with Ashara as a female darkside character yet some people cry to high heaven over it.

There are "solutions" to both problems, I can admit it's partly my playstyle while still asking for a simple upgrade in battle options to have equal choices for all companions yet it seems Ashara whiners will do nothing but whine and blame the company instead of overcoming the problem.
Why should I sympathize with Ashara whiners who can overcome thier problems (gifts) but people will just tell me my ideas of equality among companions are ludicrous/stupid/uneeded and give BS exuses like "story denies companion X of being anything other then DPS" or want me to jump through hoops to keep my favorite companion around.



---------- Post added 2012-05-24 at 01:50 AM ----------

As far as companions and their roles, it's mostly hard for your first character and you'll do be forced to use a healer mostly. Overall though, with presence bonuses and while you unlock more affection bonuses, both your alts and main would cut solo PvE content like a hot knife through butter

I have been finding that true, with the presence bonus and maybe slightly from some experience, DPS companions with DPS characters are doing slightly better on Alts then they ever did with my gunslinger. They still get slaughtered on many elite mobs but generally they can stick around a bit better during "typical" leveling

[Derah]

Why should I sympathize with Ashara whiners who can overcome thier problems (gifts) but people will just tell me my ideas of equality among companions are ludicrous/stupid/uneeded and give BS exuses

Because they are ludicrous and unneeded. You do realize it only takes 1.5 seconds to swap companions? use your tank companion and swap back to whoever else you want for conversations.

ohh and BTW, you and your friend are wrong. Ashara IS the hardest companion to level affection with if you are a dark side female.

PERIOD

that's not an opinion, that's a fact. And a hard-coded fact.

Its needlessly hard to raise her affection when she doesn't have a favorite gift, and there is absolutely NO REASON at all for her to not accept gifts when unromanced.

your "problem" if one can even call it that, has a dozen easy solutions. Mine requires sinking excessive amounts of money that shouldn't need to be sinked. IF no other class has to deal with this, why should exclusively darkside female inquisitors should?

But you know what? I'm done trying to argue this with you, it seems you've made up your mind already, so I wont bother with this nonsense any longer. Think whatever you want to think.

/good day

[Svifnymr]

It's not as bad as people whine about. Ashara may be different or even slightly more difficult (in SOME circumstances) but far from "Broken".

My DS Sorcerer chick only has Azshara at 4k affection, but I've not tried to raise her so much as that's just from normal leveling conversations. She seems fine with a lot of dark side choices really, she respects strength and such. There IS a problem with her and gifts though. She seems to barely like anything from a female, while males have several options for her. It's one of those oddities that I have no explanation for.

Contrast with Nadia Grell, who my Sage maxed out via conversations without ever giving a gift. She is a later-planet companion, so her convo boosts are obscene (like 150 gains to 20-30 for older companions) and she syncs a lot with normal Lightside Jedi choices.

I'd say Azshara is definetly at a disadvantage, though "broken" is a bit off since it can be overcome.

I have been finding that true, with the presence bonus and maybe slightly from some experience, DPS companions with DPS characters are doing slightly better on Alts then they ever did with my gunslinger. They still get slaughtered on many elite mobs but generally they can stick around a bit better during "typical" leveling

I think it's also partly class based. A gunslinger with a dps companion seems to be at a bigger disadvantage than say, a Knight or Trooper for example. Depending on spec, a sage can still do minor heals when needed and the bubbles are great for it.

---------- Post added 2012-05-24 at 12:18 PM ----------

Because they are ludicrous and unneeded. You do realize it only takes 1.5 seconds to swap companions? use your tank companion and swap back to whoever else you want for conversations.

That's not really a solution to someone liking a particular gameplay and your response is to just play different? Offering a couple more options is no more ludicrous and unneeded than allowing folks to mount in spaceports. Were you able to run through a spaceport before? Then you didn't NEED to. Quality of Life changes that don't detract from anything is exactly what a company should look at.

ohh and BTW, you and your friend are wrong. Ashara IS the hardest companion to level affection with if you are a dark side female.

PERIOD

that's not an opinion, that's a fact. And a hard-coded fact.

The difference is, he said his friend said it's not as bad. He didn't say there are harder companions to level. Azshara might be the hardest to level, that doesn't detract from his point at all.

Its needlessly hard to raise her affection when she doesn't have a favorite gift, and there is absolutely NO REASON at all for her to not accept gifts when unromanced.

I'm sure there's an instory reason. Maybe togruta hate other women and it's just not mentioned in game. Because as long as there's a theoretical instory reason for it, it must be okay.

your "problem" if one can even call it that, has a dozen easy solutions. Mine requires sinking excessive amounts of money that shouldn't need to be sinked. IF no other class has to deal with this, why should exclusively darkside female inquisitors should?

Because my pureblood sith sorcerer has the best voice in game, so it's obvious that she should be penalized. Seriously though, the gift thing is just silly for BW not to fix. But like gnomes having the fewest classes in WoW, that doesn't mean it'll ever be fixed.

But you know what? I'm done trying to argue this with you, it seems you've made up your mind already, so I wont bother with this nonsense any longer. Think whatever you want to think.

/good day

Why post one last parting shot then?

[VenomousCarnage]

My DS Sorcerer chick only has Azshara at 4k affection, but I've not tried to raise her so much as that's just from normal leveling conversations. She seems fine with a lot of dark side choices really, she respects strength and such. There IS a problem with her and gifts though. She seems to barely like anything from a female, while males have several options for her. It's one of those oddities that I have no explanation for.

Contrast with Nadia Grell, who my Sage maxed out via conversations without ever giving a gift. She is a later-planet companion, so her convo boosts are obscene (like 150 gains to 20-30 for older companions) and she syncs a lot with normal Lightside Jedi choices.

I'd say Azshara is definetly at a disadvantage, though "broken" is a bit off since it can be overcome.



I think it's also partly class based. A gunslinger with a dps companion seems to be at a bigger disadvantage than say, a Knight or Trooper for example. Depending on spec, a sage can still do minor heals when needed and the bubbles are great for it.

---------- Post added 2012-05-24 at 12:18 PM ----------


That's not really a solution to someone liking a particular gameplay and your response is to just play different? Offering a couple more options is no more ludicrous and unneeded than allowing folks to mount in spaceports. Were you able to run through a spaceport before? Then you didn't NEED to. Quality of Life changes that don't detract from anything is exactly what a company should look at.



The difference is, he said his friend said it's not as bad. He didn't say there are harder companions to level. Azshara might be the hardest to level, that doesn't detract from his point at all.



I'm sure there's an instory reason. Maybe togruta hate other women and it's just not mentioned in game. Because as long as there's a theoretical instory reason for it, it must be okay.



Because my pureblood sith sorcerer has the best voice in game, so it's obvious that she should be penalized. Seriously though, the gift thing is just silly for BW not to fix. But like gnomes having the fewest classes in WoW, that doesn't mean it'll ever be fixed.




Why post one last parting shot then?

yay someone who sees sense. You are right and sensible on so many things (unlike some other people throwing a fit...) I didn't say ashara wasn't the worst companion to get affection in certain circumstances (being ONLY DS female) but I did say it wasn't as bad as people whine about. It's nice when people listen and think things through.

She is so set on bioware simply adding a favorite gift for her companion yet it is COMPLETELY INSANE and out of the question that someone like Risha gets a healing ability or Kira to get an armour boost option/buff. It's so backwards to me that she is perfectly fine with me having to put up with my problem but hers needs so much more attention because hers is soooooo game breaking.