FormlessOne
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Posts posted by FormlessOne
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[Then there was the 1,000 person PvP battle in SWG where the Devs came in and added NPC soldiers and AT-STs and Rebel vehicles because some players planned a battle and the Devs were EAGER to oblige. Sure, the server crashed eventually, but it was awesome. Should I mention the city my guild founded, where I was a gun-toting, deadly bar owner with a personal spacecruiser who also distilled some wicked brandy? That uniqueness was normal.
As someone who actually participated in that player-driven, dev-assisted event, it remains one of the most memorable experiences in my MMO lifetime. Hundreds of players, assisted in real time by Sony, fighting an epic battle which continued until the server simply couldn't handle the load.
I miss pre-NGE SWG - it remains my hallmark in terms of community experience. LOTRO's up there, and Everquest II has the right idea, but SWG reigns supreme. We could run our own businesses, our own towns, our own armies. We owned houses, factories, guild halls. We could plan events, participate in events planned by both players and devs, and guarantee that our online time was, in a nutshell, worthwhile.
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So, no new content, no fixes for existing bugged content, just additional features that should've been in place at RTM and a few tweaks to existing functionality to mitigate the damage of a broken economy?
That's depressing. Time to prep for Guild Wars 2, I guess.
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First, nice post - well articulated, and while I don't agree with every single point, it's close enough.
It won't matter. MMOs aren't new, and most of the things for which you're asking have been available for some time in other games - if BioWare was serious about it, they would have rolled that stuff into place on day one. The simple fact is that BioWare dropped the ball here, and I'm not sure if they're capable of picking it back up. They created a rich, interesting, fun experience for leveling, and apparently had no clue as to what to do with us after we completed the leveling process.
In other MMOs, leveling is just that - a stepping stone to the rest of the game. Hitting max level is like getting your black belt - it's not the end, but the beginning of a new and exciting journey. Max level just means you know what you're doing. In this game, it's a wall - there's nearly nothing after 50. Sure, we can extend datacron benefits to alts, and merge servers, and so on, but without additional, accessible content that appeals to both casual and hardcore PvE and PvP players, the exodus will continue. Content is king, but BioWare's still trying to get basic functionality in place.
There's no content in 1.3 - just features that should've been present in RTM. Meanwhile, features & functionality that have been broken since RTM will remain broken, because they think getting the Group Finder in place will stem the tide of unsubscribers. Heck, you can't even automatically test 1.3 because they haven't finished writing & testing their Character Copy functionality - you have to actually take a friggin' survey, and then hope that your character can be copied over, because they're just not sure it works yet.
We bought an unfinished game, and they're hoping to finish it before too many of us up & leave, plain and simple. We can suggest, cajole, demand, beg, plead, whatever - it won't make content appear, and it won't change their bug priorities. They're running on a script that doesn't really involve us.
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Buy 2 play is not the same as "Free" 2 play. Buy 2 play is a proven formula. You buy the game, then you pay for DLC or expansion packs. Every friggin game runs on this model, why shouldn't MMOs?
Guild Wars runs, rather successfully, on that model.
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I enjoyed the Jedi Knight story line. Killed the Emperor, started wondering what happens next, and then discovered that, well, nothing happens next unless you've an operation-sized group of friends and the patience of Job. There's no new content for primarily solo or PvE players any time soon, apparently. My story line hits a wall because I actually have a flashpoint to do before I can move on. Group Finder should alleviate some of the frustration for flashpoints, but given the loot rules for operations, I sure as heck don't plan on PUGs.
I'm truly disappointed. There is no "what's next" for those of us who are primarily solo, PvE players. My choices are "raid or PvP", and that's it, really. Sure, I can keep running dailies for months, but as I've hit the gear wall, and there aren't enough folks on my server on a regular basis to even PUG an operation, never mind running one with my guild, dailies are pointless - a "hamster wheel" to keep us occupied while BioWare figures out "what's next." The economy is so broken, so utterly broken, that crafting as an in-game "occupation" is pointless.
This game was sold on story - so, where is it after 50?
Sure, I could run the hamster wheel and play other characters. That's what I'm doing at present. Gotta have those "legacy perks," after all. But, knowing full well that my reward for running the hamster wheel is another wall, there's no real joy in it. The game is no longer fun. All I'm doing at present is keeping busy and hoping something better - either in this game or in the next - comes along.
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- A completely functional Codex, with no bugged or unobtainable entries.
- Better character textures, so my friends & companions don't look like animated mannekins.
- Something to do at level 50 while playing alone, other than the same tiny set of dailies.
- Crafting that matters, so the economy isn't being run by those who make consumables and item modifications.
- A completely functional Codex, with no bugged or unobtainable entries.
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The original post is either:
- An advertising post for a third-party product, or;
- A social engineering attempt for a keylogger.
As I'm of the "why call someone evil when they could be just stupid" school, I'm betting that it's just an advertising post for a reasonably useful bit of shareware. In either case, some moderator needs to yank this post tout suite.
- An advertising post for a third-party product, or;
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I wish BioWare understood just how frustrating it is to not be able to complete a set of Codex entries for a given planet or category. The game was sold, in part, because of story - yet one of the very mechanisms used to tell that story has been broken from the very start.
Game Update 1.2 focused on providing features that required you to run the game over & over again, with different characters, ensuring a revenue stream instead of an enjoyable experience for those of us who can't afford to take that time. Game Update 1.3 now promises even more of the same. When, exactly, does BioWare finish the portions of the game they originally shipped, instead of providing "hamster wheel" gimmicks? Missing & broken Codex entries are important to me - maybe not important to others, perhaps, but I'm a completionist by nature. I want to finish something in this darned game without having get a CSR involved or without having to cruise the forums to see where this thing or that thing is bugged.
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I've been looking for well over two months now, without any answers.
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Any emote that can be used to grief other players by forcing them to involuntarily participate has no place. Glad it's gone.
It would be nice if they replaced it, though, with something that would make Social more worthwhile. Just pulling it, without any real notice, isn't cool.
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I'm surprised that a heavily touted and, at least to customers, important feature like ranked warzones was apparently unceremoniously dropped mere days before 1.2 was released. Never mind the advertising, the interesting bugs after 1.2 rolled out, the sudden mess of characters unable to play or even log in - if major chunks of an update are pulled mere days before the release of that update with little more than a blog post and a shrug, that doesn't bode well for the future of the game.
All I can think is that there must've been one heck of a game of "schedule chicken," and here's to hoping the feature team for that work received a boot in the butt from their respective PMs.
It's starting to smell like "Star Trek Online" in here.
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Farman
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My guild uses Mumble, but the only purpose it serves is to provide direction in large-group encounters (we've been together a long time, through several games.)
I have to spend much of my work day in constant communication with others on my vendor team. IMs, email, telephone calls, teleconferencing, online design sessions - it can be stressful. So, when I come home and unwind, I enjoy being able to both limit the avenues of communication to me, as well as control the amount of communication I receive.
So, I only use Mumble when necessary, and I type in chat channels the rest of the time. It's relaxing for me, which makes it fun, which allows me to do things like chatting in character. That's what MMORPGs used to be about, before the "grist mill" approach of so many MMOs.
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I don't usually chime in on threads such as these, because they usually exist to encourage churn in the few folks in the community that are active on the forums - most folks, such as myself, are busily playing the game. But, for what it's worth, here's my two credits.
No. No, an apology is not needed.
What's needed is action, where appropriate, to support and advance the game. The product team appears to be doing just that. So, I'm content playing the game, and I look forward to what's coming next.
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I'm a completionist. I'm frustrated as heck right now with the state of the Codex.
Some of us play games specifically to collect achievements, titles, what have you - a persistent indicator of having performed a task in the game. I've had to file at least three bugs so far regarding Codex entries that didn't happen, or are "out of sync" with other portions of the game.
Here's a lovely example - right now, in game, I'm "Avery Farman, Hero of the Gorinth Canyon", but that title (which I earned) doesn't show up in my Codex, so it isn't recognized as the only "Achievement: Titles" item you can get on Balmorra. I can't complete Balmorra. I completed the heroic mission, and I have the title - but the Codex apparently doesn't know that.
Like I said, frustrating. It's difficult enough scouring the planet looking for tiny glowing items, rare creatures, and heroic missions, not truly knowing if you have all of the entries in a given category because even the "cheater" sites aren't accurate - but, to find one of these items only to have it bugged, well, that's just plain demoralizing. It's hard to want to complete such tasks in the game if the promised carrot doesn't show up.
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Yep, I'm still missing this one, as well. Any word as to what triggers it?
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I use that site however, as a level 50 I get the message not eligible for this conversation. So again my question is how can a level 50 trooper get entries for the codex that are on tython for example
I'm in the same boat as a Jedi Knight on Ord Mantell. I've the very same missing codex entries everyone else seems to have, even though for at least two of them, I've done the requisite missions needed to receive them.
This is frustrating as heck - achievements, lore, etc., are one of the primary reasons I play these games. I'm a completionist. It's hard to enjoy the game when you know that you can't finish something not because you missed something, but because there's either a "one-way" game mechanism or an outright game bug preventing you from finishing something.
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THIS!
REMOVE THE YELLOW/BLACK SABERS AND MAKE PURPLE CRYSTALS COMMON!
Please Bioware
Or, more appropriately, allow us to make two-color color crystals in a wide variety of combinations - or allow us to use two color crystals, one "outer" and one "inner", so we can get the type of effects we'd like to see in weapons.
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OP has never even been near someone who works in software development.
I don't normally QFT, but when I do... I QFT posts like this one.
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To save a lot of people who don't know that there are better games. I like helping other people.
Which games, exactly? You haven't "helped" anyone if you haven't at least provided a recommendation for one or more other games which, in your opinion, are better.
Usually, when I see something like this, I translate it to "troll, fanboi of competing game, or employee of competing game." Which are you?
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And if you don't fix my vaguely stated personal pet peeve, I'm leaving, too! And I'm taking half of everyone with me.
Stop looking at me like that! I'm serious!
I'm with you. My vaguely stated personal pet peeve has yet to be addressed, and I'm taking half of my toons with me when I go. The other half I'll leave to my cat, Mr. Fluffikins. Mr. Fluffikins loves him the Sith.
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Easily. I'm running the following setup, and I play SWTOR on High for all settings, with bloom, conversation depth of field, and 100% for both grass & trees:
ASUS M4A89TD PRO/USB3, running an AMD Phenom x6 3.2GHz CPU (1090T) with 8GB memory (2x4GB Patriot PSD38G1333KH) and an eVGA GeForce GTX580 1.5GB graphics card.
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You can't look cool if you're gushing about something you like. And so very, very many forum posters are determined to look cool.
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Here is an excellent sample of this game's failure: http://beta.xfire.com/games/swtor
Just keep an eye on it in the next few weeks. Its sampling nearly 10,000 players. I don't care if the demographic is different or what have you. With that many players you have a really nice mix of people. Enough to give you a good idea of how the overall trending of the game's population is going.... AND ITS GOING DOWN - FAST.
What that says to anyone with even a basic understanding of statistics is:
"The group of people who use XFire, voluntarily provide their game playing information, and play SWTOR, may fluctuate." Given that the game has over a million active accounts, you're asking us to watch less than 1% of the population and treat it as a representative sample. Sure, why not?
But, what you fail to mention is that:
- On XFire, SWTOR is the fifth most popular game currently played.
- Currently, XFire players are playing fewer hours per week, but more hours than played just two weeks ago.
- The trending currently shown covers a 4 week period of activity.
In other words, who cares? It's not a statistically significant portion of the population, it's not a random sampling, and it's not trended long enough to be useful to anyone but advertisers.
So, among a tiny population of SWTOR players, a subset that voluntarily provides usage data to XFire,
- On XFire, SWTOR is the fifth most popular game currently played.
Serious overloading of servers
in General Discussion
Posted
I, also, did not understand the methodology behind moving populations from light servers into an already heavily-populated server. I do understand, though, that they've swapped one set of problems for another, as folks are already reporting ridiculous amounts of lag & other client issues as a result of overpopulation. Hopefully, the resources freed by consolidating servers can be applied to these now-overpopulated servers to improve performance.