IGNPC: What about the separate damage options offered by the HAM system? I liked being able to target separate aspects of my enemy's health. Why did you guys do away with that?

Dallas Dickinson: This goes back to the point Debysue was making about the game being more accessible. It also led to tremendous imbalance in the game. For instance, there were maximal strategies that were found that were undefeatable. This goes back to the invincible question. You could have a group of people who were only concentrating on the mind pool of something, and you could take it down without risk at all, and the reward would be out of line with the risk you were taking.

For the non-hardcore player, it was extremely confusing. Some attacks would make the green bar move, some would make the red bar move, some would make the blue bar move. There was no real understanding of that until you were a high level player. This was a choice to make the game a little more accessible, and it allows us, as game designers, to balance content a lot more readily.

This is the other huge benefit to the combat upgrade. We previously had a platform for which it was very difficult to develop compelling, Star Wars-feeling, story-driven content, which is what Debysue was speaking to. Players want to feel like they're part of the star wars history, of the adventure. The way the combat system worked before, it was hard to develop anything that was compelling that wasn't either completely unwinnable or entirely too easy. By focusing on one health bar and using the other two to perform actions, we can actually tune our content a whole lot better.

Though you didn't ask about this, this is why we brought the group sizes more in line with a combat group. We can create content for eight people, all of whom have diverse abilities and skills. It was actually really hard to create combat content that was compelling for 20 people, especially if all of them were TK masters. They would just walk in and destroy whatever was there. I understand that existing players like that complexity; that complexity has been moved over to the strategy of your actions and the use of your action pool. People are discovering that.

The immediate reaction was what you were talking about where you could do these cool things to destroy the mind pool of a creature. Now you'll have to start making decisions about which moves you use, based upon the state of the creature, the state of your party members, range and the use of your action pool. It's a much more interactive way to play the game, and it's a lot easier for us to develop compelling content.

Julio Torres: I just want to follow up with a short sentence about that, because I think this is key, key, key as far as the changes to the combat system. We wanted to engage people with their abilities and their professions so that what they do matters. Now, the focus is more on how you're going to tackle the creature with everyone around you, as opposed to just letting the combat take care of itself. That's not as engaging and doesn't have any longevity.

The key is to focus everybody on the creature or the NPC so they can focus on their actions and their professions, as opposed to worrying about where to get their next buff so they can go play without worrying about stuff. That's contrary to what we want for Star Wars.

IGNPC: You mentioned the focus on professions. It's interesting that this combat upgrade spills over to affect other professions. What are entertainers supposed to do, now that the mind pool doesn't take damage in combat?

Dallas Dickinson: We already have and will continue to extend the inspiration buff system. The entertainer's interaction with the combat classes will have a lot to do with that particular mechanic. One of the issues that the players have had that we've addressed with the combat upgrade is the ability of someone to create a buffbot entertainer. Most people didn't like that. They were just used to it as a way to get a sense of healing. We deliberately said we didn't want them to just be buffbots; we wanted entertainers to actually be entertainers and have people actually enjoy playing the game, rather than just creating character in order to grind it up. Julio actually plays as an entertainer, so he can probably respond better to it.

Julio Torres: [Laughs] It was my favorite profession when I started this game. Specifically, the inspiration buff gives the entertainer the ability to enhance the experience for the combatants. That's our first step, one of more to come, that will allow an entertainer to interact with a combatant and give them a buff that will enhance your experience, because with it you'll get a little more experience when you're out there. Obviously, if they kill something, that will increase their progression. It will give them the ability to have a better chance to getting loot. Third, if you're a crafter and you want to craft something and get some experimentation, it gives you a higher rate of success to produce a product or item at the end. That's the first stage for it and it's a step forward.

I'm not going to disagree with the community by commenting against the fact that we should do more with the entertainer and we will. We do have publishes in the future that will enhance them further.

Debysue Wolfcale: I think it's fair to say that the combat upgrade was about combat and upgrading the fun factor of combat. It wasn't an entire game upgrade. There are always elements of the game we need to continue to polish and many things that change because they're so interrelated. When we started it, we wanted to demystify the combat experience so more people can participate and have fun, and we wanted to make it feel more like Star Wars. That's what we're hearing from players. That's what they like about this game, and that's what brings them in. That's what we need to deliver on.

IGNPC: Sure, but if you really want to make the game more like Star Wars, it seems like you're taking a step back from that and making the game more generic, more like EverQuest or World of Warcraft -- the new single health statistic, entertainers now acting more like bards. To some players, it seems that some of the things that made Star Wars distinct have been stripped away in favor of making the experience more conventional.

Dallas Dickinson: Let's clarify. When we say we want to make it feel more like Star Wars, what we're saying is that we want to make it feel more like the movies, which is what the general player wants. It sounds like you're saying we're making it less like Star Wars Galaxies, the game that's been out there for a while. We're certainly making it less like the Galaxies that you're used to, but those two things aren't in conflict. When we say we're making it more like Star Wars, we want to feel like we're Rebels running away from the Empire, doing really cool things to affect the Galactic Civil War and interacting with Han Solo and Princess Leia, and they're going to give me really cool missions. We're not talking about how different it is from the mechanics of certain other MMOs.