PAX East: Day 2 3PM Q&A Audio and Highlights

During day two of PAX East 2012, we attended and recorded the Star Wars: The Old Republic 3PM Q&A with Damion Schubert, Stephen Reid, Emmanuel Lusinchi and Cameron Winston. In order to bring you the audio in a timely manner, we uploaded it to our Youtube channel which is available as an embed below.

If you would like to listen to it at another location, the mp3 version is available as well.

Highlights 

Note: Keep in mind that when we do live blogs, there is a chance that some parts of the transcript could be incorrect. Everything in here should NOT be considered direct quotes as they are brief summations.

Day 2: Damion Schubert, Emmanuel Lusinchi, Cameron Winston Q&A at 3PM

  • 3:00 PM: Q&A Starting, David Bass introducing the speakers. Damion Schubert, Stephen Reid, Emmanuel Lusinchi, Cameron Winston.
  • 3:02: SR is getting the questions commonly asked out of the way. James Ohlen may or may not join them during.
  • Q: Are there plans to make level 50 content for the origin worlds? A: EL - Yes
  • Q: Ilum is all but "dead" at this point with the changes. What is the plan for World PvP going forward? A: Cameron - We're solving the problems, looking into what to do for the future. Ilum will not go away (disincentives).
  • Q: End Game Raiding you can't see force push and all of the effects at the same time. A: Cameron - It's a scalability issue, where we can we love to get those powers in it gets out of control very quickly.
  • Q: Space Combat - co op or expanded to PvP? A: DS - We have plans, thats all your getting . BIG BIG PLANS.
  • Q: Companions - Adding more? Secret? Different from norm? A: DS - We have plans to add them here and there, its a lot of writing and work and how they react to your story. We want to add more, but not make them trivial additions.
  • Q: Combat logs - how are you going to utilize the logs in 1.2? A: CW - It's about getting the info to you, an offline thing, take that data and look at it and valuate the performance. We don't have any implementation for in game. DS: And what killed me is in the log, oh I died from this or that. 
  • Q: Legacy - any indication for customizing your ship? A: DS - We have big plans, on the wall of crazy. It's on the list somewhere.
  • Q: Combat log - plans for future in game mods or implementations? A: CW - Not for 1.2, future I cannot say.
  • Damion explaining what went on at the Legacy presentation.
  • Q: Legacy name - can we add character last names? A: DS - We've talked about it.
  • Q: PvP - Resolve - Do you have any plans to adjust it? Like for huttball,. learn how to control stuns to keep people in the fire, got to a point a full resolve bar you get rooted. A: CW - We have two completely off the resolve system effect, immobilize and rooting, based on diminishing returns.
  • Q: End game - in KP/EV are hard fights going to be adjusted in the future? A: CW - We're working on getting the fights corrected and removing the bugs. Getting them to fun, understandably is a high priority.
  • Q: Arms tech balancing. A: DS - It's not as bad as the boards believe. We want the people to build and pursue what they want. 1.2 has a ton of crafting changes to bring them in line with each other.
  • Q: Do you have plans on people skipping gear tiers in future content? A: DS - Itemization, groups have deep pull. We want to have systems in place. Looking at crafting to help people get "caught" up.
  • Q: What happens in legacy if your human? A: You get a presence buff at 50.
  • Q: Performance - certian players have issues with running the game. A: We have a strike team for performance. They've already done significant work, we'll continue to look at it.
  • Q: Where do hard mode flashpoints fit in with progeression? A: We expect you to be in greens and blues, if your struggling, story mode flash points or crafted gear.
  • Q: Mac game client? A: Not at this time.
  • Q: Adding more character slots? A: We're talking about it, no ETA on it though.
  • Q: Server population distribution, will there be merges? A: Transfers - working on them before we do anything else.
  • Last Question: Voss race? A: Not now, its a great place to reward for hard work.
  • Q&A over.

Comments

  • Siros's avatar
    Dark Councilor
    • Posts: 836
    #14 Siros Posted 4/11/2012 12:11:43 AM

    Funeral for Illum = funny

    Resolve explanation = not so funny for people which know how it is supposed to work while still getting stunned with 1700 filled resolve bar. Also... at some points I can't push stunned (not rooted) people while I can be stunned and kicked over half of the map... 

  • RogueJedi86's avatar
    Dark Councilor
    • Posts: 3,411
    #5 RogueJedi86 Posted 4/8/2012 3:13:35 PM

    Q: Legacy name - can we add character last names? A: DS - We've talked about it.

    What does that even mean? Legacy DOES add last names for characters. Maybe the shortened version makes it sound less logical than the full question in the transcript?

  • JigsawComplex's avatar
    Nerf Herder
    • Posts: 8
    #6 JigsawComplex Posted 4/8/2012 4:14:10 PM

    I think they mean customizable last names.

    "By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth." - George Carlin

  • HeavensAgent's avatar
    Dark Lord
    • Posts: 304
    #8 HeavensAgent Posted 4/8/2012 5:36:49 PM

    Surnames that are different from the Legacy is my guess as well.

  • Watcherzero's avatar
    Nerf Herder
    • Posts: 23
    #13 Watcherzero Posted 4/9/2012 8:56:23 PM

    At the moment you name the legacy, not the surname of the individuals within the legacy. So for example Joe Blogs and John Smith are both part of the 'Starkiller' legacy.

  • TheCommissar's avatar
    Spice Runner
    • Posts: 174
    #4 TheCommissar Posted 4/8/2012 12:20:47 PM

    "Last Question: Voss race? A: Not now, its a great place to reward for hard work."

    Blech. I'd rather have playable Gormaks. Personally I think it would be interesting if Voss were made Republic-playable, and Gormaks Imperial. 

  • HeavensAgent's avatar
    Dark Lord
    • Posts: 304
    #9 HeavensAgent Posted 4/8/2012 5:40:47 PM

    Gormaks, unfortunately, face the same issue as other species that are further from the human norm: incompatibility with current romance options and the need for a complete pass and basic redesign of all class storylines, at a minimum.

    I would not be surprised if the Gormak are one of the first less-human species added, but I kind of have a suspicion they'll be added with unique storylines rather than being forced into what's currently exists.

  • adamwankenobi's avatar
    Spice Runner
    • Posts: 150
    #3 adamwankenobi Posted 4/8/2012 10:52:51 AM

    Thanks for the work, DH team!

  • Qforce's avatar
    Nerf Herder
    • Posts: 29
    #2 Qforce Posted 4/8/2012 8:16:52 AM

    The tension in the air could actually be heard in this recording. Bioware sounded like politicians denying a sex scandal..

  • HeavensAgent's avatar
    Dark Lord
    • Posts: 304
    #10 HeavensAgent Posted 4/8/2012 5:43:21 PM

    Politician still deny sex scandals? I thought eveyone knew the term "politician" doesn't truly apply to someone until they've experienced a marital indiscretion.

  • MattRiddle's avatar
    Gamorrean Thug
    • Posts: 37
    #1 MattRiddle Posted 4/7/2012 9:15:24 PM

    I think it's really hard for players at these talks. They've been exposed, through their experience or others, so much of the game, and they want to see new content. The developers just don't have enough content to be able to constantly keep the players' interests refreshed. So, the players ask for more content, and are usually given the reply that more content is in the works -- which I feel can be disheartening or unsatisfying to many players.

    Developers need time to create more content, but players consume the content so quickly and want more content quicker than the previous time.

  • JigsawComplex's avatar
    Nerf Herder
    • Posts: 8
    #7 JigsawComplex Posted 4/8/2012 4:19:06 PM

    My main problem with this (And you're completely right, btw), is that BioWare isn't at that point yet.  When you pump out content like Trion does for Rift and people still complain, then they have my sympathy.  But BioWare is busy still adding MMO stables to the game.  That's their own words from the guild summit.

    I'm pretty sure we all can tell by playing the game that it was rushed.  It's not BioWare's fault, it's EA.  But now BioWare has to play the catch up game.  In order for SWTOR to be successful in today's MMO market, they need to emulate Trion.  In 1 year, Trion added more content to Rift then Blizzard did to WoW from launch to BC.

    If BioWare can't get their act together and start releasing this stuff at a more realistic rate, then they are going to be 4-5 in the top MMO bracket instead of 1 like it could be.

    "By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth." - George Carlin

  • HeavensAgent's avatar
    Dark Lord
    • Posts: 304
    #11 HeavensAgent Posted 4/8/2012 5:50:33 PM

    I doubt they could take the top spot for a few years yet. Once they get things together and really move forward with innovative content, though, it's very possible.

    The game really was rushed, but what title in the industry isn't at this point? The developers have made a sound committment to mastering the curve and seem to be on the right track. I estimate they've got until mid-summer, maybe a little longer, to get everything taken care of before the game's numbers start to dive. Here's hoping they can pull it off; I'm tired of having to look for a new game to play.

  • travballard's avatar
    Gamorrean Thug
    • Posts: 56
    #12 travballard Posted 4/8/2012 9:25:33 PM

    I'm with you heaven I'd rather be here for next 5 to 7 years.  I don't have enough time in my life for multiple games anymore.  I am still happy here I waited almost 2 years for this game to come out so I can be patient.  Im mean I stuck with wow those last 2 years off and on even though they just kept doing the same things over just with different skins.

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