Companions: Gift Early, Gift Often

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

OK, here’s a chance for me to do math.  The horror.  Don’t worry, it’s fuzzy math.

If Corso loves weapons, I give him a green quality level 1 weapon, he gives me +96.  When he reaches 2000 affection, I need to give him a green quality level 2 weapon for that same +96.  Now, a level 1 gift costs (at the vendor) 200 credits, and a level 2 gift costs 600.  So I have to pay more than double for the same affection gain.

On the other hand, conversations are unchanging.  He will give me +15 for an answer he likes regardless of his affection level.

See where I’m going with this?

If I at first rely on conversations to get Corso’s affection, and then I supplement with gifts later when he’s already at 4000+, I have to pay out the nose for those gifts because rank 3+ gifts are pricey.  If I gift FIRST and then let conversations raise affection later on, it’s cheaper, because I’m buying the lower level gifts.

Companion economics FTW.

Customer Service Fail

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

What Happened

OK, as you might have heard me yabbering, while taking screenies with the UI down, I then put the UI back up, and the UI refused to come back up, my character locked up, it was generally unpleasant, and at the end of it all, Corso’s Customization #2 went POOF.

My Ticket

So I put in a ticket in-game as follows:

1/21/2012.  I had hidden my ui using alt Z to take some screenshots.  While it was hidden, my character locked up and could not move.  I tried control u twice and the UI finally came back but I was standing in front of Corso and he suddenly changed back to the default.  His customization kit was not on him or in my inventory.  It was Corso customization 2.  It’s possible that it might have been deleted by my clicking while the UI was down.

It would be great if I could have that customization kit back.

Customer Service Response

The response 3 days later was as follows:

01/24/2012 – SWTOR CSR: Greetings Njessi,

I am Protocol Droid [redacted], Human-Cyborg Relations.

I have recieved your transmission requesting an item restoration.

Unfortunately, your ticket did not contain enough information for us to process your request. Please submit a new ticket, and include the following information:

– Afflicted character name
– Server
– Item name/Currency type and amount
– How the item/currency was lost

Please use the word “[redacted]” in the subject line of your email in order to allow us to track your request.
Please note that currently our item restoration policy is that you are eligible for 3 restorations within a rolling 6 month period.  This request will use one of your allotted restorations.

Thank you for your patience and understanding, and we would like to apologize for any inconvenience this issue may have caused.  If you require further assistance with this or any other issue, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Galactic Support is our specialty.

Sincerely,

Protocol Droid [redacted], aka [redacted] Star Wars: The Old Republic Customer Service

My Response to Their Response

By that time I was seriously pissed off.  And I emailed them back.  I had to transcribe the previous interchange from screenshots (it wouldn’t allow copy of in-game ticket text, and I had not received an e-mail), which already had me hopping mad, but I wanted a “history” in the email.  After recounting the history of the ticket, I wrote the following:

This response is unacceptable for the following reasons:

(1) The requested information was included in the initial request.

-The initial request was sent from the character in question using the in-game ticket system, so the character name and server should be obvious.

-The original request described in detail what the item was (Corso Customization kit 2)

-The original request described in detail how the item was lost. (Issues with locking up after the UI was hidden)

Granted the information was not in the exact format above, but it was all there for anyone who bothered to read.

(2) This item was deleted due to a bug.  Not due to anything on my end.  It is beyond ridiculous to limit me to 3 restorations and count against that limit a loss that was your fault.

(3) The ticket was submitted in-game and answered in-game, yet the clarification was requested via email (with no email address provided).  This proves cumbersome to even the most dedicated player.

Nonetheless, I will answer your questions in the format you requested:

And then I did.  Mostly it was quoting the original ticket since I had already given all the information.  (And, quite honestly, if they don’t have my name and server from the ticket that I submitted in-game, there’s some serious problem with their ticket system.)

Why I’m Mad

OK, end of long tale of woe.  Can you tell I was mad?  I spent 3 days waiting for a response to what I assumed was a fairly simple problem, and when I got the response, I was told that I hadn’t given information that I most definitely had and that I would be effectively penalized for their bug (which is a dumb policy right after launch when of COURSE there are bugs).  Not to mention transcribing stuff from screenies makes me vaguely stabby.

I am totally aware that it took me more time and effort to write angry emails (and this post) than to simply earn the 12.5k, hop in my ship, and buy a new customization from the Taris or Balmorra vendor.  And I certainly do not want an easily-obtainable item to count against my 3 restorations that I might actually need for something important.  But it’s the principle.

Resolution (or Lack Thereof)

As of today, I have an open ticket in the system which was opened on 1/24.  So that’s 2 weeks ago? I went and bought a new customization kit, and I should technically close the ticket but I want to see just what happens with it.  If anything.

A Comparison

Now, let me tell you about the time I got hacked in WoW. YES I WENT THERE.  I’M COMPARING SWTOR TO WORLD OF WARCRAFT.  Ahem.  As I was saying, I got hacked.  It was a mess. I don’t know where all my characters were dragged off to.  I couldn’t even TELL you what they owned.  Yet in less than a week, the WoW CSR’s restored everything down to the last little miniscule item, to the last little level 5 alt.  There was, as I recall, one enchant missing, and that was IT.  Everything else back, and I do mean everything.

I can see that it was partially my fault for not having an authenticator, but never was I told that I was limited to X numbers of restorations and after that I was shit out of luck.  I knew a ton of people who got hacked.  They all got their stuff back.

I will admit that WoW was probably too lenient.  If you looted something and then later decided it should go to another player, often a CSR would fix it for you (this was before trading BoP’s was implemented).  People who deleted their characters ON PURPOSE and then 6 months later decided they wanted them back (true story) put in tickets and got those characters restored.  OK, that was a little ridiculous.  But giving back items without a limit or a fuss when they were deleted by an evildoer, bug, glitch, or outage is just good business policy.  Your customer is happy and life goes on.

So What Am I Going To Do About It?

Maybe they think nobody is going to unsubscribe over shitty customer service.  I know I’m not going to right now.  I truly enjoy playing the game.  But if something serious is wrong, not just an easily replaceable customization kit missing, and I get crappy customer service that doesn’t put an actually important thing right, then yes, I’d quit.  Because unlike a lot of the kids out there, I don’t have TIME to re-grind stuff.

Edit 2/10.  I received a response to the ticket.

Outside My Comfort Zone

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

I have always played healers.  The closest I got to DPSing is to play a DPS offspec of a healing class and TOTALLY SWEAR that I wasn’t going to heal with it… and then go ahead and heal with it.  I felt really exposed leveling without the safety net of a heal, even though in practicality, you can’t usually heal YOURSELF when you’re being pummeled by a mob.

I swore that this time I was going to have an alt that would DO DPS FOR REALSIES AND NOT WUSS OUT.  Remember, with a companion, I can have a healer, even if it’s not ME that is the healer.

Enter the Sentinel, one of the two advanced classes in the game (well, we’re not counting mirror classes here) where you CANNOT respec to anything other than DPS.  No tanking, no healing, I R GOING TO SMASH THINGZ.

As little jedi says, I’m “pewing the guys.”
I’m totally old enough to be a Master Jedi. Just call me Doogie.

Continue reading »

Companion Customization and Hats

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

Now, I don’t know about you, but I hide helm on my characters because I want to see my character’s face and hair that I worked so hard on.  Hoods are bad enough.

I rarely see both eyes on my Jedi Sentinel

For companions, I can’t see anything but a bucket head or sometimes part-of-face.  This is quite annoying.  Why spend my hard-earned money on a companion kit1 just to have the result hidden behind some hideous headgear?  Sorry, most hats ARE hideous.

Yuck. Trust me, it looks even worse on a cyborg missing her right eye.

Thinking myself smart, for one of my class quests (to go talk to some dude) I took off Corso’s hat in preparation for the cut scene, so I wouldn’t be listening to a disembodied voice echoing in a bucket if he chose to participate in the conversation with the NPCs.  Well, at the end of the cut scene I got my ASS handed to me when everyone turned hostile.  Sigh.  As the husband helpfully pointed out, there is no such thing as “just a conversation.”  I fully acknowledge that I probably would have been thoroughly beaten regardless of hat status, but still.  Gotta get every edge you can, and the hat cannot be ignored. So much for my brilliant “unequip for cut scenes” plan.

Which leads back to purchasing kits.  These days, Corso’s head is behind a bucket.

Oh your helmet is so big... (Spaceballs? Anyone?)

What the hell is the point since I can’t see their faces, except for during chats on the ship when the headgear mysteriously disappears (I would imagine that romance scenes would be quite difficult if the bucket did not disappear).

To add insult to injury, some of the aliens don’t have showing headgear.  Corso is hidden behind a bucket, but I get to see Qyzen’s gleaming lizard smile no matter what his headgear is.  Joy.

  1. And, as you might recall, I’m customizing ALL my companions ↩

Not Now, C2-N2

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

Ah, look, I got a new mod.  Let me see, where do I put it?  Ok, I have my backpack open and my character screen, and ok… right click on jacket, and –

“Perfection delivered on schedule, master!”

At which point, C2-N2 shoves his little crew skill quest window in my face, thereby closing all my other windows.  He does this when I’m modding items, when I’m looking at the GTN, when I’m trying to mail things, and when I’m in combat.

And because my missions are around the same length, just as I get back to what I was doing with multiple windows open, BAM, the next companion comes back with something, and closes all of THOSE windows.

We already have a doodad in the top right corner for when we get a reward that we can’t take right away (inventory full, etc).  I would KILL to have the crew skills go there and leave me the hell alone while I’m BUSY.

Surprise BSOCK!

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

Has this ever happened to you?

NPC: So what are you up to?

YOU: (choices)

  1. Saving the universe because I’m awesome like that.
  2. None of your business, jerk.
  3. [Flirt] Nothing much…

You pick 3 and bam!  Fade to black!

Wait, what?  All I said was…?  ESCAPE ESCAPE ESCAPE!  Oh crap, too late, the quest completion popup is up.  I guess I have space herpes now.

Congrats!  You got BSOCKed (Black Screen of Carnal Knowledge).  It can be pretty disconcerting if it’s unintentional or unexpected.

How to avoid the dreaded Surprise BSOCK.

  1. [Flirt] via holocom. If you’re on your ship and you’re talking to some dude halfway across the galaxy, you can be as suggestive as you want.  I doubt he’s going to materialize and drag you back to your bunk.
  2. Avoid [Flirt] if you don’t intend to give it up.  Be warned, that might not avoid all BSOCK, but should help avoid the surprise variety.
  3. Look at the question first!  Even without a [Flirt] before it, some answers will still lead to the BSOCK.  If the question is “do you want to come to my quarters?” and you say yes… well DUH.  “Wait, I thought we were going there to play Scrabble?”  Not in this galaxy.
  4. Don’t send your companion away.  If your companion offers to leave, and you say “sure, I want to be alone with this guy” you might as well paint your screen black.
  5. Hover over the escape button when you [Flirt].  If things don’t go your way, ESCAPE!  Now if only there were such a do-over IRL for bad dates…

Don’t let space herpes happen to you!

Did I Get On The Right Ship?

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

I swear I’m in the twilight zone.  First, I see Risha, my companion whom I customized.

Then I see Risha the NPC.  On my ship, in a different room.  Where she used to be BEFORE she became my companion.

One Risha is bad enough.  Two is intolerable.  I put in a bug report.1

And then there’s this weird Rattaki guy in my sick bay whom I can’t even interact with.

How the fuck did he get there?  Has he always been there?  Is he supposed to be there?  So I put in another ticket (separate from the Risha issue), figuring that if he’s intentional, they’d tell me that he was intentional and that I should STFU.

The response:

Greetings Njessi,

I am Protocol Droid [redacted] of Human-Cyborg Relations.

Thank you for contacting us regarding the issue of having an NPC inside your ship.

Your report has been forwarded to the relevant department, who will investigate further. We regret we will be unable to provide you with further updates on this issue, but recommend checking future patch notes for any up to date information.

We would like to apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, and to thank you again for the valuable feedback you have provided. Please do not hesitate to report any other issues you may encounter during testing.

Thank you for helping us to test Star Wars: The Old Republic!

Please do not hesitate to contact us again if there is anything further we can help you with.

Galactic Support is our specialty.

Sincerely,

Protocol Droid  [redacted]

Star Wars: The Old Republic Customer Service

Which doesn’t really tell me whether that freeloader is supposed to be on my ship or not.  Plus, notice the bolded part.  Any issues I may encounter during testing?  Thank me for helping test? I am paying!  Not testing!

I need to toss all 3 of them in the airlock.  Possibly along with customer service.

  1. Which, if you are interested, was “locked” without response and then disappeared from my queue. ↩

Let The Companion Heal

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

I’m a healer and the husband is a tank.  One would think that, for questing, we’d grab 2 DPS companions and just go from there.

Yech, that did not work.  It was much better to have his companion heal.  I felt a little inadequate.

(1) They Can Target Better

Ok, it is bad enough that we don’t have mouseover macros.  But at least in flashpoints using ops frames with 4 people, I can see all the bars together and heal accordingly.

When it’s just me and another person and our 2 companions, it’s not so easy.  The ops frames are one place.  My companion is on the bottom left.  His companion is nowhere.  As a workaround, I can use Alt-F to focus his companion but the focus frame is clear on the other side of the screen.  Not to mention, the focus disappears every time we get on a speeder.

Which leaves me looking in 3 different places for health bars.  The companion has no such problems with its cheater AI

(2) Range

This is a perpetual tank problem.  The tank wanders off and starts pewpewing and you’re back going where did you GO?  If we use the tank’s healing companion as our healer, he can never get out of range of his own companion without some serious maneuvering.  So that solves that.

(3) My Companion Management

If I’m healing, I usually start out HEALING people.  But then my companion just stands there and doesn’t get the memo to join the combat.  So I have to be sure to click on the appropriate mob who isn’t already dead, send the companion, then retarget health frames.  Honestly, it’s a hassle.  If I go in DPSing, on the other hand, my companion simply follows my lead and I don’t need to do much with the companion interface.

(4) Exception: C2-N2

Ok, you CAN outfit C2-N21 to heal, but it’s only effective for comic relief.  You can use droid parts with +aim and +endurance to make him more effective and sturdier but he does not use a weapon of any type.  And, indeed, he technically can heal.

However, he’s kind of a moron.  Even with heal mode toggled on, he will find time to neglect his healing duties and punch the mobs (remember, he can’t hold a weapon).  If you put him on passive, he will not punch.  He also will not heal you, and will watch you croak.  Lovely.

In Summary: A real-person healer will shine in flashpoints with a full group of real people, but for duoing quests, I am finding the companion-healer far better.  What about you?

  1. For you dirty imps, that’s your ship droid ↩

Frivolous Expenditures: Companion Customization

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

So, everyone has their thing.  Some people want the coolest mount, others want some sort of glowy glowstick that is a different color, some like minipets, etc.  I’ve decided my thing.

Each companion will receive a customization.  It doesn’t matter that the companion looks fine now.  Or if I almost never use that companion.  Or even if it’s a wookiee.  Each companion gets customized.1

Now, this seemed expensive at first, but it’s actually quite reasonable if I have my main fund my alts.  Even with the more expensive kits, it’s under 100k per toon, spread out over 50 levels.  And the first companion gets a freebie, so if I’m satisfied with that, I’m set.

It can get a little awkward.  Like… I’ve known Risha as an NPC for 15 levels and then she became my companion.  We’ve had extensive interactions while she had her “default face.”  So it’s going to take some adjusting to think of this new look as “Risha.”

Why?  Well I’ve noticed that many people, maybe most people, aren’t bothering with it.  and I really want to have a “unique” experience, so what better way than surrounding myself with customized companions.  Plus, if I end up rolling another toon of the same base class, I can customize my entire crew in a completely different manner.  Funsies.

Where to Get Customizations

OK, here’s a great list.  I know for a fact that the Taris, Balmorra, and Belsavis vendors are in “safe” places in the intro towns when you first arrive on the planet.  Once you have a ship, you can trot out to a planet that might be well above your level in order to get a customization  kit for a companion you just acquired.  I went to Belsavis at a way lower level than I should (to get Akaavi’s customization), and the customization vendor is right in the starting area and accessible without running into any nasties.

About Freebie Kits

For some first companions, you get a freebie kit as a quest reward.  You choose 1 of 3.  However, do not fear if you choose the wrong one!  The others that you did not choose ARE still available at the appropriate vendor.

Previewing Customizations

You can preview customizations for your companion regardless of which companion you have out.  Control-left-click on the companion customization (as the tooltip says) and your preview window will pop up.  Then switch to the “companion” tab.  At the top of the preview screen, there are arrows.  Use those to scroll through your companions until you find the right one.  (You will probably have to control-left-click again to toggle the preview if you don’t see it.)

Yes, the preview is crappily small and there’s no way to zoom.

Pictures of them all?

I know it would be so convenient to have screenies of all the customizations rather than squinting at the preview.  SWTOR Spy is gathering pictures of all the companion customizations, but it’s not filled out completely.

Continue reading »

  1. Ok, if the customizations are truly all foul, I will not do it… but that hasn’t happened. ↩

That New Trailer and the UI

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

SWTOR released a new trailer about upcoming features including (these are the high points for me) guild bank and UI customization.

While I’m thrilled with UI customization, it’s… a start.

What it addresses:

  • Resizing all the things.  IDEALLY this will include buffs/debuffs in ops frames, but there’s no way to tell.
  • Moving all the things (YES!)

What it (probably) does not address.  At least from what I can tell…

  • Mouseover macros
  • Targeting companions (i.e. putting companions in ops frames)

So… yeah… I think these improvements are great for the general playerbase and will probably deal with a lot of the issues for DPS and Tanks, the UI still needs more work to be healer-friendly.