Ability Delay -- Character Responsiveness (This will make or break SW:TOR)

[-aiko-]

Set ability queue to 0.0
problem fixed!

Had the issues you described when i started playing than i set it to 0.0 everything was fine after.

Look, it's not that we (I) don't appreciate the comments but we've (I've) seen replies like this so many times that it's only adding to the frustration. No, it's not fps or latency lag. No, it's not the ability queue. Everything is fine, the game runs smoothly, and we (I) have no issues up until we (I) enter a warzone. This is something on Bioware's end and many, many of us are stuck with it.

This is only one of two horrible bugs, actually. Did you know that some people have a bug that makes it absolutely impossible to log in to a certain character? You get stuck at 50% and the game refuses to refresh your screen. You can hear background noises. If you press spacebar you can hear yourself jump. Other people see you online. But you are stuck on a damned loading screen. Bioware has at least acknowledged this bug, but there has been no update and a lot of us are pretty close to calling it quits.

I'm sorry guys, but this has not been a good launch. Consider yourself lucky to have not run into any of these issues.

[Glorious Leader]

Look, it's not that we (I) don't appreciate the comments but we've (I've) seen replies like this so many times that it's only adding to the frustration. No, it's not fps or latency lag. No, it's not the ability queue. Everything is fine, the game runs smoothly, and we (I) have no issues up until we (I) enter a warzone. This is something on Bioware's end and many, many of us are stuck with it.

This is only one of two horrible bugs, actually. Did you know that some people have a bug that makes it absolutely impossible to log in to a certain character? You get stuck at 50% and the game refuses to refresh your screen. You can hear background noises. If you press spacebar you can hear yourself jump. Other people see you online. But you are stuck on a damned loading screen. Bioware has at least acknowledged this bug, but there has been no update and a lot of us are pretty close to calling it quits.

I'm sorry guys, but this has not been a good launch. Consider yourself lucky to have not run into any of these issues.

Yes it has been. In fact by mmo standards its been a spectacular one. Servers up with little downtime or crashing. Generally very little lag or serious game breaking bugs. The two biggest ones that you complain about have either A. Been fixed or B. Are not noticed/happening/ or game breaking for most. GG sucesfull launch

[Razeo]

I honestly don't have this issue, there have been numerous times where I will click an ability on my SW (Most commonly, Ravage ~> Savage strike/Impale/Force scream) and before the animation is finished I click on the next ability before the GCD on the hotkey bar is even over.

[-aiko-]

Yes it has been. In fact by mmo standards its been a spectacular one. Servers up with little downtime or crashing. Generally very little lag or serious game breaking bugs. The two biggest ones that you complain about have either A. Been fixed or B. Are not noticed/happening/ or game breaking for most. GG sucesfull launch

Neither have been fixed, both have threads with hundreds of people. These were problems that were first addressed in BETA, and nothing has been done to fix them. I'm happy the game works for you, but I shelled out $150 for the CE and I can't even play on my main.

[Deleted]

I can't agree more with OP, when I sat down with SWTOR this was the first thing I noticed. And it is incredibly annoying when used to very responsive character control. It just feels off.

[Glorious Leader]

Neither have been fixed, both have threads with hundreds of people. These were problems that were first addressed in BETA, and nothing has been done to fix them. I'm happy the game works for you, but I shelled out $150 for the CE and I can't even play on my main.

That's unfortunate but we must compare relative things to one and other. Relatively compared to the launches of other mmos this has been a breeze. Now it may not be so in every individual case but for the overwhelming majority of people it has been. The combat issue that people are claiming is apparently not game breaking for most and probably not even noticed. If the other bug you are refering to is not the Taris memory leak issue then its again not being felt by the large overwhelming majority of people. This is what sucessfull mmo launches should be. Especially when we consider that the scale of this launch has been MASSIVE. Really if you think this is bad, you have no idea..

[Stevegasm]

I haven't had any problem with the responsiveness of the game. Even doing interrupts are fun playing my Jedi Shadow. The only time I don't interrupt right away is when I'm channeling something.

The only problem I have is playing my scoundrel and not being able to use the channeled heal behind cover sometimes.

[Smitzelplix]

Neither have been fixed, both have threads with hundreds of people. These were problems that were first addressed in BETA, and nothing has been done to fix them. I'm happy the game works for you, but I shelled out $150 for the CE and I can't even play on my main.

Hundreds of people huh? Are you sure that it's not hundreds of pages with most of the topic being filled with bickering, which is what's happening to this topic. It sucks that you're having an issue and I hope it will get fixed, but I don't honestly believe that there are hundreds of people facing the same issue.

[-aiko-]

That's unfortunate but we must compare relative things to one and other. Relatively compared to the launches of other mmos this has been a breeze. Now it may not be so in every individual case but for the overwhelming majority of people it has been. The combat issue that people are claiming is apparently not game breaking for most and probably not even noticed. If the other bug you are refering to is not the Taris memory leak issue then its again not being felt by the large overwhelming majority of people. This is what sucessfull mmo launches should be. Especially when we consider that the scale of this launch has been MASSIVE. Really if you think this is bad, you have no idea..

Long queue times, no combat log, poor user interface, poor AH interface, dialogue bugs, memory leak bugs, graphical bugs and issues (no AA, "medium" setting are actually "high" setting atm), bugged bosses (hard mode HK-47 is impossible if he bugs, Mentor was the same way - luckily they fixed him this patch), ability bugs (force leap sometimes sends people through the world), etc etc. Need I go on? Comparing it to other bad MMO launches isn't saying much. It might be better than them, but a bad launch is a bad launch.

One thing I'd like to mention, however, is that I adore this game. That's what makes this hurt so deep.

Edit:

Hundreds of people huh?

Oops, I did in fact mean hundreds of pages. More likely it's in the thousands of people.

[Glorious Leader]

Long queue times, no combat log, poor user interface, poor AH interface, dialogue bugs, memory leak bugs, graphical bugs and issues (no AA, "medium" setting are actually "high" setting atm), bugged bosses (hard mode HK-47 is impossible if he bugs, Mentor was the same way - luckily they fixed him this patch), ability bugs (force leap sometimes sends people through the world), etc etc. Need I go on? Comparing it to other bad MMO launches isn't saying much. It might be better than them, but a bad launch is a bad launch.

One thing I'd like to mention, however, is that I adore this game. That's what makes this hurt so deep.

Edit:
Oops, I did in fact mean hundreds of pages. More likely it's in the thousands of people.

Well lets take it through your list there.

Long que times are a result of people rolling on very heavy servers and not going anywhere else. Not much BW can do about that. Personally I run on two heavy servers and have had ZERP que times.

No combat Log, Poor User interface and poor AH interface need work I agree but they are hardly game breaking and if this is your worse list then BW is laughing. That shit is easy to add.

Have yet to see a dialogue bug and have yet to see many complaints about it. Not very common or ground breaking.

AA can be forced through CCC or Nvidia control panel or .Ini files. You probably knew that already.

Memory leak fixed and I haven't encountered to many graphical bugs. Haven't heard to many complaints about this either but sure what the hell

Look what it boils down to is that by comparison this has been an incredibly smooth release. You can say that meaningless all you like but thats just not true. Skyrim shipped with more fucking bugs ffs and thats a singler player game. This game on launch probably had more than 1 milllion people playing and for the most part issues were kept at a minimum. Has it been perfect? hell no but thats software design for you. Get it out as soon as is possible and then patch it as time goes by. Has it been smooth? Hell yes. Servers are up and running, lag is at a minimum and people are playing the game relatively trouble free. Again if you think this is bad...

[moff]

1. I agree that this is extremely important, Its pretty much the first thing I notice in MMOs or any game for that matter
2. I agree that WOW has the best character responsivness in MMOs and I agree that this is what makes WoW the best MMO, there are many reasons but this by far the most important one.
3. I agree that SWTOR has a better character responsivness than any other MMO yet, with the exception of WoW.

Sadly, I do not believe they can/want to/will change/improve this because I think this is not easily done. But its certainly enjoyable the way it is, there is no dire need to make this happen, in my opinion.

[Grable]

I actually don't mind it. It makes perfect sense for the animation to finish before you can initiate a new ability.

I'm not sure I can call it "ability delay" even. The abilities are not delayed. They wait for the previous animation to finish, then they start.

[CrunkJuice5]

but I shelled out $150 for the CE

and some people payed 60 bucks for the regular game.boo hoo


its no one elses fault but yourselfs that you wasted 150 bucks just to get some worthless junk that they usually shove into CE's to get people to pay more money

[Deleted]

Jesus Christ, I hate how unresponsive this game is.

I heal in PVP. It's very fast-paced. Players are moving around, players are going in and out of LOS, players are hitting me and I need to use cooldowns while running while healing.

It's diisgusting how huge the delay on some abilities is. When I use Kolto Missile which is an instant cast ground targeted AE splash heal, I need to target the ground near/under a group of players. I press the keybind, I instantly flick my mouse over and confirm with left click. That's it, please now cast the damn spell. NOPE my character raises his arm for about 0.3ms, then the missile has a slight travel time. Players can quite literally be completely outside the area of effect (which is a 10m diameter!) by the time the spell actually hits them if they are not standing still but moving, the way players do when under attack and taking damage. I dont even mind the travel time, I can adjust for that, but the huge delay caused by the animation just should not be there. Plus, as the OP said, some abilities with a cast time, meaning technically after they finish casting you should be able to instantly activate another ability, actually have a relatively long and uninterruptible execution animation, which means you end up hammering on your emergency heal/CD and things just won't happen until the stupid animation has finished EVEN THOUGH YOUR GCD IS FREE.

When chaincasting any spells the cast bar just disappears whenever it feels like it, and reappears whenever it feels like it. My character also arbitrarily performs the casting animation, or does't. Sometimes I literally cannot tell whether my character is casting a spell right now or not because the animations and the cast bar have glitched out and he just stands there, then I hammer the heal bind to notice it does not do anything, and a second later realize the heal must have went through because I see a big green number on my screen. How incredibly silly that is. Happens with Tracer Missile too, and Reload! Not just heals, not just PVP, everywhere.

The animations are the worst offender basically. I want my character to cast spell, not raise arms. I want precise responsiveness and good blending of animations. In PVE you don't notice it half as much because mobs don't do anything so if you mess up, no-one dies. In PVP when you activate your shield and run from an Assassin while casting your emergency heals and juking interrupts, it matters a whole bloody lot when your character has to finish waving his arms like a character in a GMOD youtube video before the effect actually takes place.


And I'm not even talking rated matches, or any serious PVP here, just common warzone action for some gear I'll use in PVE. If I was a competitive player who'd actually signed up for SWTOR PVP, I'd be furious as hell.

[Devolution]

I managed to record an example of the ability cancel problem many have been having. At about 0:13 my Riposte (number 5 skill) lights up and becomes available. I spam the button, and watch as my character proceeds to reset his animation every time I hit it. This is a reoccuring problem, and others have experienced it as well.

[Conscious]

Have played a Sith Assassin, Bounty Hunter, Smuggler, and Trooper so far, and I for one haven't had any of the aforementioned problems..

Interrupts are on par, abilities activate when pressed, hell I can even time a groin kick on my smuggler to make it look like I'm a karate master.

Maybe it's just an issue on a system-to-system basis?

[ringthree]

Well lets take it through your list there.

Long que times are a result of people rolling on very heavy servers and not going anywhere else. Not much BW can do about that. Personally I run on two heavy servers and have had ZERP que times.

No combat Log, Poor User interface and poor AH interface need work I agree but they are hardly game breaking and if this is your worse list then BW is laughing. That shit is easy to add.

Have yet to see a dialogue bug and have yet to see many complaints about it. Not very common or ground breaking.

AA can be forced through CCC or Nvidia control panel or .Ini files. You probably knew that already.

Memory leak fixed and I haven't encountered to many graphical bugs. Haven't heard to many complaints about this either but sure what the hell

Look what it boils down to is that by comparison this has been an incredibly smooth release. You can say that meaningless all you like but thats just not true. Skyrim shipped with more fucking bugs ffs and thats a singler player game. This game on launch probably had more than 1 milllion people playing and for the most part issues were kept at a minimum. Has it been perfect? hell no but thats software design for you. Get it out as soon as is possible and then patch it as time goes by. Has it been smooth? Hell yes. Servers are up and running, lag is at a minimum and people are playing the game relatively trouble free. Again if you think this is bad...

Dude, no offense, but you are one of those guys that can't seem to see a single thing wrong with SW. Your opinion is near worthless for those that are really trying to evaluate the game.

If you were more balanced, your intense experience could really provide some input for those that are interested in the game, but as of right now, it just sounds like you are making excuses for everything.

/shrug

[Grable]

Dude, no offense, but you are one of those guys that can't seem to see a single thing wrong with SW. Your opinion is near worthless for those that are really trying to evaluate the game.

If you were more balanced, your intense experience could really provide some input for those that are interested in the game, but as of right now, it just sounds like you are making excuses for everything.

/shrug

Uhm no, he doesn't sound like he's making excuses, he provided valid input. Maybe you're the one that's hating?

[jvbastel]

Well lets take it through your list there.

Long que times are a result of people rolling on very heavy servers and not going anywhere else. Not much BW can do about that. Personally I run on two heavy servers and have had ZERP que times.

I've been having queues of almost an hour nearly every time I log in. I have about 2-3 hours per day MAX to play games, sitting in a queue for 25-50% of my playtime is not really what I wanted. Before you ask why I don't switch servers, BW decided to put my guild on one of the most populated servers in EU. It has become a bit better lately though, yesterday I didn't even have a queue, but that was because the servers went online when I was home from work

No combat Log, Poor User interface and poor AH interface need work I agree but they are hardly game breaking and if this is your worse list then BW is laughing. That shit is easy to add.

Agreed here, they have time to change this and they probably will soon.

Have yet to see a dialogue bug and have yet to see many complaints about it. Not very common or ground breaking.

Very frequently characters will not move their lips when talking, it looks rather silly, not really a big issue for me.

AA can be forced through CCC or Nvidia control panel or .Ini files. You probably knew that already.

It shouldn't have to be forced, AA is a VERY basic feature and I have no idea why they even thought of not implementing it.

Memory leak fixed and I haven't encountered to many graphical bugs. Haven't heard to many complaints about this either but sure what the hell

There's a few minor graphical bugs (the green glow etc.) again nothing major.

Overall, I really enjoy the game and it has heaps of potential, but a smooth launch? far from it. The networking side of things has been very smooth indeed, no/very few disconnecting, servers up quite consistently.

However, certain things make me believe they were not 100% ready for launch.
No UI customization whatsoever, no AA, especially make it feel like a beta build.

[ringthree]

Uhm no, he doesn't sound like he's making excuses, he provided valid input. Maybe you're the one that's hating?

I know this may be hard to deal with but criticism is good for a game. Unabashed devotion does absolutely nothing.

And really... "hater"? Any time someone uses that term it just screams of desperation.

There are serious legitimate problems with the combat system, and they need to be addressed. Ignoring them and calling people "haters" doesn't do anything to improve the game that you so obviously love.