Darth Hater

With patch 1.1 coming to Star Wars: The Old Republic next week, Georg Zoeller stopped by the official forums recently to shed some light on changes coming to two of the most popular Crew Skills. In his post, Georg explains why some items created through the Biochemistry and Cybertech Crew Skills have been rebalanced for the 1.1 release. 

Georg ZoellerTL;DR: Fancy words for ‘we nerfed BioChem and Cybertech endgame products’ because they were so good that players started considering them mandatory. Your choice of profession is not supposed to be the deciding factor for participation and success in endgame content. We still believe that BioChem and Cybertech are very worthwhile Crew Skills, especially considering the significant fortune players with these professions are able to realize on the GTN... they are however no longer the ‘golden ticket’ into endgame content.

The full post and related section of the patch notes follow the jump.

Full Text

Georg ZoellerAs some of you may have already noticed from our patch notes for Game Update 1.1, we’ve made adjustments to several high-end, purple, player crafted items on the BioChem and Cybertech professions. Simply put, we reduced their overall impact on gameplay and I wanted to explain why it was necessary.

BioChem crafted medical kits were too good. In fact, they were too good both in the amount of healing they provided (often more than half a character’s health) and the frequency they could be used (every 90 seconds!). This was negatively impacting the game for everyone else. We’ve seen significant chatter both in and out of game about how players not picking up the BioChem professions would be ‘stupid’ and ‘gimping themselves’. This indicates that a small number of competitive players have been denying access to high end content based on whether a player has the BioChem Crew Skill.

Cybertech grenades, especially when stacked with additional power-ups and other temporary buffs, were creating combat damage burst potential higher than we were comfortable with and caused player versus player engagements in the game to resolve faster than intended. In fact we have additional changes to classes and consumables currently in internal testing to deal with faster than anticipated kill times in player versus player combat in a future patch.

The design intent for the game is that your choice of crafting profession should not become a requirement or ‘gating’ mechanism for participating in competitive content (PvP) and high end endgame challenges. While we certainly want players that engage in the crafting game to reap rewards for their effort, we don’t want one or two crafting professions to become the de facto ‘must have’ choice for everyone, which is what happened here.

We are extremely careful with this type of change, and understand that it can be frustrating for our players when we make them. Please understand, we make these changes not because we like to mess with your character, but because they are required to ensure a level and fun playing field for all players of the game.

At the same time, we understand that people that changed their profession because of the events described above will likely be unhappy about these changes – and while it’s easy to say ‘that’s how it goes in MMOs’, making modifications like this is something we’re always cautious about doing. At the same time, both player feedback and the data gathered from hundreds of servers made it very clear that this issue needed to be dealt with decisively now with only a small minority of players at endgame level and the vast majority of our characters in their 20s to minimize the number of affected players.

TL;DR: Fancy words for ‘we nerfed BioChem and Cybertech endgame products’ because they were so good that players started considering them mandatory. Your choice of profession is not supposed to be the deciding factor for participation and success in endgame content. We still believe that BioChem and Cybertech are very worthwhile Crew Skills, especially considering the significant fortune players with these professions are able to realize on the GTN... they are however no longer the ‘golden ticket’ into endgame content.

 Patch Notes

BioWareCrew Skills

Crafting Skills

Below, you’ll notice some changes to high-end Biochem and Cybertech crafted items that reduce their output. We understand that these changes may cause concern for Biochemists and Cybertechs, but we’ve made them in order to prevent a situation where any specific crafting skill becomes the objective “best choice” for players challenging endgame content or PvP. We only make this type of change after very careful consideration, and only to ensure a level and fun playing field for all players.

Artifice

• All mod type item modification schematics have been removed from the Artifice trainer. These schematics were invalid, and could not be used if purchased.

Biochem

• All Energized, Exotech, and Rakata adrenals and stims now require 400 Biochem for use. 
• The Exotech Medpac is now named “Exotech Med Unit.” Its overall healing has been reduced and is now in line with similar level medpacs, and it temporarily increases the maximum health of its targets. Use of this item now requires 400 Biochem. 
• The amount healed by Rakata Medpacs has been reduced. This item now additionally increases maximum health briefly. Use of this item now requires 400 Biochem.

Cybertech

• Wynz-Tek grenades now require 400 Cybertech for use. 
• Wynz-Tek Grenades have had their damage reduced to bring them more in line with grenades of similar level. 
• The Wynz-Tek Firestorm grenade’s damage has been reduced to bring it in line with grenades of similar level. It now deals damage every 3 seconds over 12 seconds.