Rounded up, I did

Still waiting for a ticket response; almost a week now. Hard to get excited about the game when I know customer service is understaffed. Little things like this can negate quality updates/stories. You have to spend money to make money EA.

Ten years ago I first registered on these forums from my computer at work. I wasn't supposed to be browsing the SWTOR website then, but I couldn't resist checking the developer blogs, updates, etc. and patiently waited for this game's release after being let down by the clowns over at SOE (RIP SWG). Alas, we all know what happened upon ToR's "early" release. Regardless, I didn't unsub until around spring of 2012, and enjoyed the initial leveling experience, as most people did. I've since returned three times: for RotHC, SoR, and now KotFE. Again, playing through the stories is a lot of fun, as is a bit of warzone and GSF mixed in for variety. Everytime I return it's always bittersweet, but less and less so each time. I feel like Bioware/EA is slowly figuring out how to make this game sustainable and fun. Yet many people still view the game as just something to merely dabble in from time to time, especially after major story updates. It could be so much more than that if EA would dedicate even more resources to this unique project. People will be CRAVING Star Wars for the next few years, and other MMOs like WoW are becoming old and stale. Simple things, like bug fixes, improved customer service, frequent/quality updates, and the addition or expansion upon of innovative features (e.g., GSF, space exploration, impact-bearing decisions during story progression, interesting operations and quests, etc.) could solidify this game and perhaps even usher it to the top. It's simply a matter of investment. TLDR: allocate more resources to ToR and this game has the potential to make a huge resurgence during the years of EP 7 to EP 9. Also, answer my ticket that is in queue please

Hopefully this is the way that it is done. I can't be sure since I don't know how it's coded and I'm not aware of any BW explanation. However, based on my observations it seems that you do tend to get matched up more often against the opposing faction. That being said, I still wish that there was a way for players to opt out of intrafactional matches.

I'd rather wait in queue an extra minute than fight my own faction; it ruins the story-based aspect of the game in which the Empire is at war with the Republic. Besides, with server consolidation faction imbalance can't be that bad anymore. There may not even be a need for intrafactional queueing now.

1. Let us sit down in chairs at cantinas. 2. Let us play pazaak at cantinas, against other players, competing for credits and records. 3. Future quests should consist of your class story and a general story that continues throughout each zone/planet (just like the class stories do). There could be more than one general story (e.g., jedi and non-jedi) to minimize repeated content. The other quests need to be made as interesting as the class-specific quests and storyline. 4. Let players opt out of intrafactional warzones in order to emphasize the war between Empire and Republic (edited to change from "eliminate intrafactional warzones"). 5. Longer-term fix: open planetary regions up a bit. Integrate quest areas with explorable wilderness/terrain where future content could also be added.

I quit SWtOR back in April and went back to WoW, which I started playing a few months before its second expansion (TBC). After playing WoW again over the summer and into the fall, and experiencing its latest expansion (MoP) content, I have since returned to SWtOR. Upon my return to this game, there is one statement that stands out: SWtOR is actually a really good game. It reminds me a bit of vanilla WoW, except it's actually a more complete game than WoW was when it first came out. The raw, core game content is all in place, like a scaffold to which this game can grow and thrive. Like many fans, I was disappointed with SWtOR, especially after being level 50 for awhile. But I believe part of this was due to the great expectations everyone had for this game. Many of us wanted a polished, finely-tuned MMO at launch, and when we found certain features lacking, I think a lot of people panicked (both the customer and the company). However, SWtOR is new, and has a loyal subscriber base of Star Wars fans upon which the game can continue to develop and improve. Regardless, it's a FUN game--more fun than WoW. And although that is just my personal opinion, I am sure that it is shared. Anyways, I am glad to be back

This should be resolved with the LFG system in conjunction with server transfers.

The ability to fall to the dark side and defect to the Empire (or vice versa) is something that really needs to be added to this game.

I should also note that if you just look at the suggestion forum it shows how enthusiastic the player base is about this game. There are a lot of people with creative ideas, which means that this game has a lot of potential to grow and become something great. EA needs to step up and do the right thing... reputation = money.

The game needs more than one sandbox planet. The entire game needs to have sandbox integrated with story-based approach. More open worlds and space can be patched in. PvP bounty hunting, player housing/cities, large scale world pvp, exploration, and just that immersive feeling that you are part of the large Star Wars universe, which is currently lacking.

I'm not quite sure why EA's CEO is trying to marginalize SWTOR by lumping it in the same category as Tiger Woods Golf. Maybe he's just trying to ease investors over the 400k subscriber loss. However, I think these executives are overreacting, which in turn, is having a negative affect on player morale. There are a few reasons for the suits at EA/BW/LA to relax: 1) SWTOR was the most successful launch in MMO history. Even if mistakes were made there were many things done right. Furthermore, even if half the player base were to leave, the game would still have nearly 1 million subscribers, which is still an excellent number for a game that has only been out for a few months. 2) It's Star Wars. SWG was a huge failure and it was still around in 2011, after launching in 2003. That is evidence of a loyal fanbase that loves Star Wars. 3) SWTOR is a GOOD game, it just has a few key components that are missing. Most of the initial reviews for the game gave it around a 9.0 out of 10. It's actually fun to level up, thanks to the story-based aspect. Now all the game needs is that MMO immersion factor. Open the worlds up a little bit; integrate the story-based themepark quest design with a sandbox environment, where players have more freedom. 4) Gameplay mechanics are great, which is one of the reasons why PvP has been way more popular than you thought it would. Class/ability design is top notch, and ranked warzones have huge potential to keep people hooked, especially if more warzones are added and interesting incentives are put in place to reward players for participating and performing well. Additionally, with the implementation of the LFG tool, players will also be able to easily access flashpoints and operations in the same way they currently access warzones. This opens up a lot of potential for new content. In summary, SWTOR is a fun game and if EA stops panicking, and continues to develop the game in a quality way then it will be quite successful for many years (10+ at least).

Really? I thought an MMO was something that was dynamic and could change over time (go read the EULA). Just because the primary focus is story-based questing doesn't mean development time cannot be spent on other things. You keep saying the cost would be too high to expand the game but I'm calling your bluff. It's easy to build terrain, especially remote wilderness. You could literally get a couple of interns to do it. Regardless, this is an MMO with one of the most popular IP's in history, with over 1 million subscribers, and you want to lecture me about costs, and what cannot be done? Give me a break. The community deserves nothing less than greatness with this game. Star Wars fans had to put up with SOE for eight years and they deserve a good online game that allows them to become immersed in the Star Wars universe for once. BW should be able to deliver; maybe not please all, but please most. It needs to accomodate the playerstyle of its subscribers, and a lot of people want a more open game. Yes, it's advertised and focused on story-based questing, but what don't you get about the fact that such a format only keeps people interested until they finish the story. Do you think BW is just going to be able to keep chugging out new stories every month, raising the level cap every patch? That's ridiculous. There needs to be more substance to end-game, and you can get that by OPENING the world zones up, which includes terrestrial environments and space, so that the game is larger with more to do, more to see, and more to explore. It's not just Uncle Owen farming water on Tattooine. I tried to give you examples of how an open world environment can also provide Star Wars type action, but you just aren't listening. People, in general, don't want to be walled in unless the tunnel goes on indefinitely. In the case of this game, the tunnel ends when you finish your story. So the walls need to be knocked down so that there isn't just a tunnel. You can have both. They would complement each other, not detract from each other. Well, I'm pretty sure BW doesn't just want to throw away half their subscriber base because they want to stick to some cliche, dogmatic statement of "We can't please everyone." That's just an excuse for mediocrity. EA/LA/BW are large enough, experience enough companies, with enough cash on hand to please most of the SWTOR subscribers and still turn a profit. You are a fool if you think otherwise. The focus of the game can be story, but players need to feel like they are part of the larger Star Wars universe or that story is pointless, as we've seen when you hit 50. MMO is about keeping people interested, giving the feeling that there is some grandiose scheme to the game, that there is something to work towards and things to do. That's the whole point of expanding the game, because it gives people more things to do, and contrary to what you have stated about costs, it does so without a huge infrigement upon development time. That's the beauty of a sandbox feel, and that's why it would be perfect for a story-based game like this: it would allow BW time to develop specifc story content because players would not be bored with this large Star Wars world of which they are a part. Go look up some psychology studies on animals in captivity and you'll find that the ones who are kept within enclosures that have many different areas to roam and explore are happier than the ones kept within very simple, walled-in cages. Animals (which includes humans) need a diverse, complex environment that gives them freedom of movement in order to be happy, and this same principle can likely be applied to an MMO environment containing an avatar. But SWTOR isn't a single-player game, it's an MMO with subscribers (decreasing, I might add). The reality is that the game needs to be treated like an MMO. You don't play KOTOR everyday because there's nothing to do once you finish the story enough times. The worlds are walled in, it doesn't have that "I'm in the middle of a Star Wars world" feel once you aren't being fed with the story anymore. That is the single biggest problem with this game... when you finish the story you are no longer part of the great Star Wars universe. You are stuck on the very drab fleet, and you go from place to place with even more drab loading screens and the same cinematic showing you land and take off, and it just gets old and boring. You go do daily quests within the same walled-in areas of those "planets" that don't really seem like planets because you never really flied through space or the atmosphere to get there. You can go PvP in warzones, but you don't really feel at war with the other faction because everyone is so boxed in within the world zones that there is no war when your story ends. Oh, but imagine encountering a group of other players in space and getting in a dogfight with them. That's so Uncle Owen, right? Or imagine a bounty hunter tracking you down while you return to your house in the middle of Alderan's wilderness. Uncle Owen, right? You have no idea what makes a good MMO and I'm done going back and forth with you on this. Enjoy your walls.

Thoughtful analysis? Basically, it's been: "I think space is boring, therefore I don't want the devs wasting time on something I don't care about." What I've been trying to tell you is that there are people who enjoy the space aspect of Star Wars, and that includes the "Uncle Owen" exploration stuff that you seem to think doesn't belong in an MMO. I spend a lot of time doing PvP, and am not particularly fond of PvE, but do you see me complaining about players asking for more PvE content? No, because I know that you are going to have different playstyles within an MMO and many of those are important to the long-term viability of the game. There is a large block of players that want a more open, less theme-parked game, and unless that is done those players are not going to be content with this MMO. There are creative ways to have a story-based themepark hub integrated with the traditional open feel that you get from other MMO's. Then BW wouldn't have to spend countless hours with voice actors loading new content in the game because players would actually have things to do in the open world. If that's not your cup of tea, then fine, but you need to understand that there are other players who enjoy these things.

I suppose that's why they are already laying off devs and why EA's CEO has categorized SWTOR with Tiger Woods Golf? The game is not retaining subscribers under its current format, and players like you keep giving BW bad advice. I only hope they listen to the more reasonable, creative suggestions and open the game up more before they lose even more subs.

While enjoying a cup of Baileys Irish coffee I realized an error in your thinking, Darth Halford. You see, SWTOR is an MMORPG. I emphasize the RPG because the objective is to become immersed within that character; otherwise you could just play any old non-RPG game for the quick thrill of action combat. But alas, no! SWTOR is an RPG, just like Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, and our beloved Knights of the Old Republic. You are part of the character, and that includes the mundane as well as the thrilling moments. If you completely remove all of the "boring" aspects of that character then he or she ceases to be something you can identify with, and instead becomes something akin to a simple action character. RPGs are about more than cut scenes and action. They are about your avatar, and if you take away chunks of the world of which the character is a part then it marginalizes the identity of that character, which is a very bad thing for a story-driven MMORPG.

I think you are overestimating the cost. Just as the terrain tool could be used to easily expand existing zones, it could also be used to create an open space environment. Furthermore, as I already explained, if players did not want to explore or travel through space then they would have the option to bypass the feature (i.e. take a shuttle, wait for loading screen). The cinematic is a watered down alternative that suckers the immersion factor out of physically flying your ship out of a hangar and accelerating through the atmosphere. Some people enjoy the journey. Correlation is not indicative of causation. JTLS released in October of 2004 and WoW released in November of 2004. Subscribers could have dropped during JTLS for other reasons, such as players leaving for WoW. And more players could have left in April of 2005 after the combat upgrade. To assume that the decline was due to JTLS is erroneous thinking, and misleading at best. I don't want SWG2. I quit SWG because it had too many problems. However, there are aspects of SWG that I did enjoy, and I think that Bioware could expand upon the good things that the game did, just as they have implemented features found in WoW. And while one of the primary problems with some servers right now is low population, there are also numerous complaints about the game being too themeparked as well.

Indeed it is, which is why I'm wondering why you think that just because YOU think space is boring that every other player feels the same way. Quite the contrary, in a recent poll it was shown that three-dimensional space was one of the top things wanted by the player community. So if this is what people want, and this is what they enjoy, then that will in fact be profitable. No, but traveling through space is an essential part of Star Wars. Otherwise, why even bother with any space scenes. They could just cut to the space installation or planet at which the scene occurs, but they don't. Once again, you are projecting your own opinions onto other players. An MMO is about offering different things for everyone to do. Bioware even stated that they want the game to appeal to all different sorts of playstyles. An MMO can be more than one-dimensional. There can be PvP, PvE, exploration, crafting, RP, flight sim, etc. all in ONE game. Yeah, giving players more freedom and opening up the world zones is such a bad thing (sarcasm intended). The game is already losing subscribers with its current format, so it's obviously missing something. Surely you read the forums and can see how people are complaining about how it's too themeparked. The story is great, but only if you feel like you are part of the Star Wars world. The current formula has players too boxed in and does not fully capture the vastness of Star Wars.

Just because you didn't like JTLS doesn't mean it wasn't fun. I enjoyed it and thought it was one of SWG's strong points. I remember flying into to deep space with friends aboard my ship, manning the turrets while we destroyed a Rebel space station and took on Corellian corvettes, along with Rebel players that were quite skilled at space combat. I also owned a mining ship and we would go and mine resources on asteroids and use them for crafting ship parts for other members in the guild to further the war effort. Space exploration is part of the Star Wars story, whether you like it or not. Go read the Star Wars books and you'll find numerous examples, such as discovery of new hyperspace routes, new worlds, asteroids, etc. There are tons of scenes in the Star Wars movies that take place in space (e.g. breaking through the blockade on Naboo and traveling to Tatooine, traveling from Tatooine to Alderan and encountering the Death Star, evading the Imperial fleet by flying through an asteroid field and then landing on an actual asteroid, dogfighting with a bounty hunter that you followed through space from Kamino, crash landing a giant ship on Coruscant that you boarded to rescue the Supreme Chancellor, etc, etc). It's called STAR wars for a reason. The whole idea is to open the game up a bit, and make it feel like an actual galaxy. I'm not sure why you would be against this.

^ this would be good

Stars are not the only celestial objects. There are hundreds of satellites orbiting Earth, there is an international space station, there is a moon that will soon have a lunar base of operations, and there are planets within reasonable traveling distance. There are also countless asteroids, clouds of gases, and other debris. Space is just as populated with objects, if not moreso than any terrestrial environment. Throw in the fictional Star Wars universe and space is EXTREMELY populated. Just as when you travel to a destination on the ground and are attacked or encounter an object, the same thing can happen in space: perhaps you run into a group of Black Sun fighters patrolling a mining facility on an asteroid, or maybe a bounty hunter follows you into space and attempts to collect for your crimes against the Empire. I could go on, but you get the point I hope. Space flight and exploration is an integral part of the Star Wars story and it needs to be accounted for in this game's design.

Just because SWG failed doesn't mean it didn't do some things right. There are aspects of the game that can be incorporated into SWTOR to make it better. To think otherwise would be very naive and narrow-minded.

By your logic, there shouldn't even be mounts in the game, or the ability to move at all. I suppose you just want to go from loading screen to loading screen, delivered directly to your quest points? That sounds more like a cure for insomnia. The point of having zones is for them to be traveled through, explored, having places of interest to interact with. An MMO is supposed to simulate a world, in which your avatar is placed within. It's not just pointing and clicking to mindlessly travel to a destination, it's having the ability to move around in the environment and choose where to go, what to do, what objects to interact with, rather than have your destination spoon-fed to you.

SWG topped out at approximately 550k subs actually. Furthermore, it had many more than one major content patch, and only failed when it tried to copy the WoW formula. I'm not saying SWG was a huge success by any means, but it did have a style of play that appealed to a lot of people. The point is to INTEGRATE the sandbox feel to SWTOR, not replace the story-centric focus that it already has. You seem to think an MMO can only offer one-dimension, when in reality the successful ones (like WoW) offer many different things for players to do. Even WoW has an open feel to it: the worlds are OPEN and there is atmospheric flight. yet none of that takes away from dungeons or raids or anything else WoW has to offer--quite the contrary, it only expands upon the choices that players have regarding what to do. Bioware has actually stated that you should have the ability to choose and shape your destiny within the game. Right now there just isn't a lot of freedom. The world, the game feels too linear and themeparked. Surely you aren't saying that's how Luke was portrayed.

Much of the Star Wars story takes place in space. It is not an empty void; it contains planets, asteroids, superheated gas, black holes, etc. It also contains sentient built objects, such as space stations, fleets, satellites, etc. It is no different than a planetary zone and should not be exempt from exploration or focus. Furthermore, as I explained, the worlds would NOT have to be redone, but rather expanded upon beyond the exhaustion range. And while you may be of the opinion that this would not help the game, an open sandbox world appeals to many people who have voiced that it is a dimension of this game that is severely lacking: It is a story-based game, without the feeling of control over that story or the environment.