A protest againt the Combat Upgrade

[Moffster]

Hello all,

There is a huge population of people who are against the "upgrade". I think the patch broke the cardinal rule of games - they took away instead of giving more. Expansions are great with this game. Adding speeders, more armor, spaceships is one way to stimulate more interest in the game. The difference between the upgrade and those expansion is that is significantly harmed a great population of the players.

 

The entire trajectory of the game has been altered. People have worked for over a year to fine tune their characters to fit a certain role. Many hours and credits go into buying composite armor - and now most of the gaming population cannot wear them. Many of the weapons people have used are not worthless. In fact, every credit that I have spent over the past month is entirely worthless.

 

As a Bounty Hunter, I used a LLC, scatter pistol and a FW5 for hunting. Now all three of those weapons are unusable. I am not a professional player who soloed Krayts, instead it was a mission here and there. is discouraging to the gaming population because there is a fear that our work will be wiped out by the next patch. Predictability is the pre-requisite to a productive gaming environment. If I cannot make plans such as – I want to play for a few months and see myself as a successful player because I acquire X, Y and Z, then the game is not worth playing. As a role playing game – the ability to progress towards a desired end is the essence of the game, and the combat upgrade wiped this out.

 

Protest may be ineffective, but it's better than just walking away without saying anything. There are destructive types of protests, such as the ones that have crashed the Bria server - these serve no purpose. The protests that should be encouraged are the ones that point people towards non-harmful measures - such as advertising protest websites. To say the developers will not roll back the combat upgrade is defeatist - I think we should encourage members of the community to do all they can to voice their support or dislike of the patch. Lucas arts and Sony have an economic incentive to maximize their profits - and if the patch hurts them - they should rollback many of the provisions within the combat upgrade. My personal protest will be to remove my account if action is not taken. This is an easy decision – the game has been transformed into a game that I did not pay for a year and a half ago – and I would very much like my money back (but I doubt this will happen). Everything I worked for is nothing more than an inventory filler.

 

The people who are hurt the most are those who are intermediate level players. The superpowers – the Jedi – got a Christmas present with the upgrade. They were allowed to rearrange their stats and gained new abilities. Those who are occasional players were harmed in two unique ways. First, they lost many of the essential ways to progress quickly in the game. Composite armor and buffs were ways to level the playing field against enemies that were stronger than intermediate level players. Having to wait for armor certification now keeps low level players from progressing on a fast track. Secondly, the items these players have amassed are made worthless. Players who are just reaching their first elite profession do not have a million credits to rearrange their playing style and armor. There is also no economic compensation for those who lost the ability to use their weapons/armor. Since the demand for these items will be less than pre-patch, the return on selling them will be minimal.

I think new players will also help the protest process. Forcing them to progress slower in the game will make many people retire early from the game. The truly important players to consider their position are those who are intermediate players. (Or TKA, they have no reason to play anymore. Losing three-fourths damage and no healing? Jheez.).

 

Doctors have also taken one for the team with the expansion – buffs were how they made money – now the entire profession will be reeling. Moreover, how the gain experience has been destroyed. By making them only gain experience in combat – it will harm the ability for intermediate and younger players to heal. There are not that many doctors that they can travel with every hunting party. The best part about hospitals was it centered the location of doctors. People knew were to go to find a doctor – young and experienced. By dispersing them, it will strain the profession and hurt the overall combat experience.

 

Some people will argue this will cause more ranged styles of characters. The problem with this argument is that it runs into the same problem we had before. Substituting ranged players for TKA, the new patch overpowers one style of profession and will just cause those who stay around to become ranged players. This could also adversely affect the armor and weapons market by creating an artificially high demand for their products. Now players who must retool are going to have more competition, driving prices up.

 

Perhaps there should be an alternative. This is what I believe should be done – and yes – this falls on deaf ears – but there will be people who reply to this post who complain “there is no alternative to the combat upgrade” or “its easy to complain without saying how to fix it”. First, I believe the new animations are quiet cool – and could stay. There are also some new attacks that I think could stay, but I have yet to see their overall impact on the game. I believe that the patch should be rolled back and fixing some of the problems like this:

 

The devs say the armor is overpowered. Then make a new class of enemies that is more powerful, have more exp and better drops. By adding a new layer of enemies it creates a new ceiling for players to strive for.

 

The doctor problem could be solved like this. Double experience for healing out in parties. Therefore, there is an incentive for doctors to go on hunting trips. Also, add a skill bonus for those who master the profession – that way they can also be a combat profession.

 

Stacking professions can be accomplished by either adding more skill points or by allowing skill point bonuses for each profession you master. If you master marksman – you get an extra 10 skill points. Make it diminishing – so you can only master a max of 5 or 6 professions, allowing for maximum combinations and “stacking”.

 

That is why I believe many people should consider the website - http://www.swgpetition.com - it outlines an argument that I do not fully agree with - but calls for the removal of the combat "upgrade". Even with all the new special effects, the game does not play as well as it used to. Playability is the necessary component for a game. No matter how many colored blaster marks they can add to the game – if people do not have the drive to log on – the game has lost its value to us.

 

I urge all of you to consider a boycott of star wars galaxies - there are many MMPOG out there - and there is a world outside of online games. I am going to remove my account after one month if progress is not made to remove the destructive changes encountered this weekend. Remember, they have taken what they have no right to take – it is just as much our game as it is theirs. Let us let them know how much we enjoy this game.

 

Thanks to anyone reading this,

 

-M-

[Rogue15]

go bitch someplace else

[McCusto]

Originally posted by Rogue15

go bitch someplace else

 

/agree

[Ranre]

/knods

Well I cant exactly complain because im one that has my own profession that isnt listed. Having a good time.

[Trahern Valley]

Sorry, that's just too long-winded for me, and if the title's anything to go by, it's just whining. I have more fun things to do with my next five minutes.

 

I heard the official forums were locked up awhile. Now that I'm working for one of the unofficial sites, I can confidently say that I hate it when this happens because the complaints migrate to us. Even though it'll do even less good.

 

Stuff changed? Don't like it? Tough titties, that's life, get over it, and so on. Real Life has already thrown me enough curveballs of its own, and such vehement protestation over a frelling computer game is really starting to bug me.

 

It's not like they're actively trying to kill the game, for smeg's sake. They're just trying to ignore the idiots who think their opinion should matter.

[Ranre]

Yeah I just didnt read all of that. That was way to much, Dude if you have complaints E-mail the devs themselves, so then they can read through it fast. Your typing everything, people are protesting in the game.

[^Invader]

Originally posted by Rogue15

go bitch someplace else

 

I think that msg alone is alittle far

[Ranre]

No its not going to far. Were mearly experssing our option as he is expersing his.

[^Invader]

That's maybe true but i think there is a right place and a wrong place to express something like that.

[Rogue15]

If they changed back to the way it used to be-being pretty much forced to give 15,000 credits every time i log in just to get buffed, go out in the wilderness, find a huurton lair, target huurton, press F3 a million times, kill the damn thing, collect its hide, wait like 5 minutes for my action and mind pool to recharge....this way is more fun.

[^Invader]

I agree it is more challenging i think once the bugs get fixed it will be much more enjoyable.

 

Biggest thing i have seen and im one of them also is when you play a system for 2 years it's hard to make people who have got set into a pattern to change it.

[Ranre]

That is undoubtedably true. And unfourtuatly for everyone playing SWG like all of us, its hard to change.

[Rogue15]

i've been playing since february.

[^Invader]

I been playing since March 2003 march cause of beta

[Lord Haine]

Dude, ive already made a thread linking to the same website with alot less winded boring first post.

 

http://www.lucasforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=147875