AJediKnight
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Posts posted by AJediKnight
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Sigh.
I really wanted this game to succeed. I've been posting in anger on these forums since yesterday because of the amount of money I wasted on my CE. I cannot believe I dropped 150 bucks plus subscription on a game that I'll only play for two months total. I wanted so badly for this to be a multi-year adventure, but given the state of my guild, my server, and my own rapidly-waning interest in performing the same daily grind (get on, get 3 WZ wins, get 30 kills in Ilum, log), that simply will not come to pass.
OP, I don't believe your numbers are any more firm than if I were to say: 'well, all of the planets on my server were dead yesterday even during primetime, so the game must be failing!' A snapshot look at population will not convince me that the game isn't floundering, or is doing well, for that matter.
I can only speak from personal experience (as can any of us), but my guild, which was one of the largest on my server, is down to about 50% of the active membership we had 3 weeks ago. And it's not due to natural attrition either -- my GM is absolutely anal about following up on people who leave and why. Those who have left our guild aren't quitting for competing organizations; they're ceasing playing. One day they'll be an extremely active member who is on for five hours an evening, and the next, *poof,* they've utterly vanished.
That's not a sign of a healthy MMO. For the first five or so years in WoW, when somebody who was extremely active suddenly quit your guild, chances are that they had a better offer elsewhere, and felt like your organization was holding them back. It's called poaching, and while it's hardly a wholesome activity, it's a sign of a healthy game -- that people feel like they can freely move between organizations in order to achieve better personal progression. So in WoW, they didn't disappear; they just disappeared from your guild. In my experience, in TOR when someone vanishes, they're just gone. They haven't fled to some high-end guild (why would they need to? Even the NM mode stuff is facerollable); they've just vanished.
So, yeah, OP? I don't believe your numbers. I think your efforts are the work of somebody who is desperate to see this game succeed, even if it means lying to yourself and to others. My server, Jung Ma, is one of the busiest in North America, and while it remains a strong shower, I can clearly see a drop-off even there. The fleets are less populated; the leveling planets are virtually empty; Ilum isn't as busy. You can slip on those rose colored-glasses if you want, but just because you tell yourself repeatedly that 'everything is fine' doesn't make it true.
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No wonder you have no friends and are playing a single player game. Who would want to associate with you...
Yeah, gee, I would never want to associate with someone with a critical mind. The sheeple are where it's at, right bra-ah-ah-ah-ah?
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We’re now two months in and all signs show the game’s population is still growing.
All signs? Half my guild is gone. As of yesterday, *I* am gone. How do all signs point to the health of this sucker?
The game stinks.
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I'd also like to say that companions, imo, are a huge innovation and are pushing the genre forwards - I can gear and spec my companions how I want, control them in combat, talk to them, they have personalities and they like/dislike me based on my actions.
I don't want to play a pet class anymore. Ever. Unless, that is, I choose to do so. Having pets forced on us was nonsense, especially since they essentially disappear from the map at 50. I haven't seen one of my companions in weeks -- literally. They're just icons on a crafting menu. They aren't in WZs, they aren't in my raid on Ilum, and they aren't with me in ops or FPs.
Why they had to be present for any of it, I'll never understand.
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This "NOW" Generation of gamers is rather disgusting. If I were a moderator or in charge of public forums I would instantly ban these irrational types from all forms of communications with the area I am responsible. I would have one position with in the company that does nothing but sift through this cesspool and ban ban ban ban ban ban away.
There is only a finite number of people you can ban. Or who can leave, for that matter. I always smile when I see these 'good riddance, get lost!' or 'I'd silence the lot of you!' posts, because it demonstrates an inherent disconnect with how MMOs work in the early days. If you piss off a lot of people, not only do their subs disappear, but their overall discontent spreads like a plague throughout cyberspace, killing potential customers before they ever give your product a try. Word of mouth is spectacularly important to the genre -- to believe otherwise means you have no grip on reality.
And 'bad press' is precisely what happened with SWG. It also happened with WAR, AoC, STO, PotBS, Vanguard, D&DO and, to a lesser degree, Rift. Once a game has 'the taint,' people stay away. And so, when that game loses subs, there is nobody in line to replace them. It's like a black hole of income, syphoning away not only current revenue, but future streams as well.
But, by all means, fiddle while it burns, pal. Lord knows, that's Bioware's policy. When this game is reduced to ashes (and, apparently, on many servers, that's already all that's left), how exactly do you plan to derive enjoyment from it?
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Great OP, and I share your concerns about Ilum. It's like this is a tacit admission by Bioware that, yes, Ilum sucks and is broken, but rather than fix it, they'll just shut it down. Our only outlet for world PvP and, poof, the entire point of the planet is destroyed in the blink of an eye.
I also agree with you that, at the end of the day, the basic game is deeply flawed -- flawed in such a way that it has been irreparably harmed. No amount of magic patches can fix what's wrong with TOR, because the situation is akin to trying to hide an ugly nose with a bandaid -- fixing the problem with require surgery that this title really cannot conduct. So we're stuck with ugly, and with a developer who appears to believe nothing is wrong.
I'd say 'I'm in the same boat as you about 1.2,' but something broke for me today, and I simply can't bring myself to play anymore. I've been watching combat videos of Tera all night, and while I'm not wild about the whole Asian MMO thing, the game looks smooth as silk, and about a million times more enjoyable to simply play than TOR is.
There was so much potential here, particularly with some downright unique classes like Vanguard and Sniper, but its all been shattered and shelved by the downright atrocious execution. Bioware had a valuable license; they had game making (although not MMO) experience; they had a loyal following; they had years to build this title from the ground up. And yet, for all those great things going for them, they never even made it within sight of the finish line. This is going to go down as another Warhammer; another AoC. Hell, I don't think even Rift is this bad.
I mean, I'm not predicting superb glory for Tera or anything, but it also didn't cost 150 million to make, either (about 25 mil, in fact).
But anyway, it's a shame they'll probably shut down this thread because 'your concerns have been shared here [insert random other 100 page complaint thread].' You raise some very valid points.
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Here is the difference between somebody who understand combat system scriptiing and people who don´t have a clue , calling a bad engine is like noob talk
I see a game engine that lags with more than 20 people on screen fighting. I also see a poster named Drake_Hound who can't spell. Why am I supposed to take either seriously?
LoL again bunch of amatuer requestYeah, gee, I am so out of line asking for a mechanic that is present in virtually every other MMO on the market.
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Because of TOR, never again..will people settle for anything less than full voiced content or an amazing leveling experience with an awesome story where you can make decisions that effect your outcomes.
THATS what..
Lol. WRONG Sarfux. As usual. I'm actually looking forward to getting away from this voice-acted bunk with Tera. Give me engrossing environments, profoundly immersing combat, a solid in-game soundtrack and simplistic quests over shabby, predictable, ho-hum VO any day of the week.
This genre is about what happens at the cap. Blowing $100 million on voice-over doesn't make a lot of sense when you're essentially wasting all that money on a part of the game that doesn't really matter for the bulk of a longterm player's subscription.
What is that hundred mil doing for my 50? How is it improving the sorry state of Ilum, or my boring daily WZ grind?
Full VO is stupid and, what's more, it's stupidly expensive. I don't expect another game to waste development dollars on it on this scale for, well... maybe ever?
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Space combat wasn't suppose to be part of the game. The people complained. They added space combat. They listened.
Yeah, because this is the space combat everyone wanted.
I think if you'd asked just about anyone if they'd want a half-baked space-on-rails sim, or to wait a year or two to get something more substantial (while the resources that might have been squandered on said on-rails combat were diverted elsewhere, where they were clearly desperately needed), they'd have told you the latter.
Let's not be stupid, shall we? This wasn't the sim anyone was looking for. You can't hand a starving man rotten meat and expect him to clasp your hands in thanks.
What didn't they listen to in beta? Provide examples that aren't left over bugs.1) Bad engine. People were saying early-on in the process that something was funky with the in-game action response. What a shock that it grew into a massive issue post-launch.
2) Bad UI. Again, people were telling Bioware near the beginning of the process onwards that the UI was shabby, and that customization was needed. You can also add that people asked for more character customization, a combat log, real RVR, and a more solid effort in endgame, all of which was ignored as well.
3) The overall 'dead' feel to the game world was something else that was brought up over and over again. People were asking for improvements in this arena almost constantly, and their concerns were brushed aside.
Quite frankly, 95% of the problems with the current game not only could be predicted ahead of time, they were. The people asking for fixes were, as a rule, ignored. Communication between the development team and the beta testers was basically as lively as the communication between developers and players is now -- that is to say, there was virtually none.
But, please, do tell me that the development team is fully accessible right now. Tell me that the customer service is spectacular, and that 100+ page repeat threads are actively engaged by the people that matter. Tell me that, right now, 1.2 is being developed in a manner that is not only open, but actively addresses most of the major concerns of the playerbase as they exist now.
Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies.
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Arena
Flying Mounts
Rated Battleground
LFD finder
Open World Feel
Smooth reactive gameplay
Swimming
Chairs to sit in
Day/Night cycles
Vastly different races
Factions you can support
Leaders worth following
Dual Spec
Weapon choices
Crafting professions that matter
Economy that works
Multiple Hubs people gather at
Decent framerates in hubs mentioned above
Capitol city raids
Modable UI
Multiple zones to level in (1-60 anyways)
Target Dummies
Holidays
Choice of pets
Barbershop
Armory
Sever Transfers
Faction Transfers
Name/Race Changes
Forums that link to characters in game
GM's in game that come talk to you when you open a ticket
Vibrant healthy economy
Guides and fansites galore for every aspect of gaming
Moonguard Goldshire ERP
Guild Tabards
Choice of Battleground/Warzone entered
Combat Log
Rare Spawns
Achievements
Class specific mounts
Factions to gain affection with
Easily accessable dueling centers
Restrictions on mounts at Auction House
Fishing
Cooking
Organic AND mechanical mounts
Classes that can teleport other players
Classes that can summon other players
Beer
Macros
C-c-c-c-c-c-c-COMBO BREAKER.
Pwn, anyone? Yeah, gonna go with a pwn here.
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I've made two level 50s in this game, and I'm working on a third right now. Or at least, I was.
Played the Tera beta, and just couldn't help but hate SWTOR for the fact that Tera looks better, runs better, and has far more interesting combat. I want to continue loving TOR, I really do, but at this point I just can't.
I wish I hadn't missed the Tera beta. I've been watching some videos, though, and it looks wonderful. I'm trying to decide between an Elin warrior or a slayer. Any thoughts?
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Then why are you still here? Sincere question, please answer it without emotional ranting.
A better question is: why aren't you off playing this game if it's SO MUCH FUN?
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I have seen enough of what I needed to see, and that most (not all of, but most) of the people quitting the game are extremely immature, uneducated about certain situations and above all else, impatient beyond belief, assuming that if this were a survey, very few quitting the game had much else to say other than THIS SUCKS IM GONE.
Patience is only a virtue in some situations.
http://www.italianvisits.com/images/campagna-im/pompeii/body.gif
Those are body casts from Pompeii. The ash of the AD 79 eruption covered them and hardened, and that was all that was left.
A lot of people got out of Pompeii when the volcano started acting funny. Many, however, chose to hang around. A lot of them were probably saying basically the same things you are -- that those leaving were impatient, that the situation was only going to improve with time, and that stuff was going to work itself out naturally. I suppose it did work out... naturally, of course.
Now, TOR obviously isn't some kind of a ticking time bomb, nor is it a volcano on the verge of eruption. This is an anology, not a direct comparison. However, having clarified that point, you can see the obvious similarities. You can label us as immature or impatient all you want, but -- at the end of the day -- our drive for self preservation; our desire to spare ourselves any further grief, is enough to convince us to bail on the game.
We all spent money to buy this like you did, and we all spent money to sub. Many of us are leaving behind friends, guilds, etc. But we go because staying longer will just make the innevitable departure all the worse when it comes. The ground is rumbling beneath our feet, the mountain is making dangerous noises, and we acknowledge that it is time to go.
Why you're getting pissy about us not staying is beyond me. I don't care if you want to become a lava cast, but trying to label all of us running for the boats as morons is a bit of a stretch considering the choice you're making, bub.
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Why don't you just leave?
This is too much fun.
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you know why molten core used to be known as molten chore?
Took a while to get to that point. MC wasn't on farm for most guilds until about 6 months after launch. Hate Molten Core all you like, but the fact remains that it was tuned in difficulty enough to give Blizzard time release BWL.
TOR had guilds farming NM mode stuff within the first 3 weeks. That is terrible design incarnate.
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Pretty much hitting every thread with your discontent today eh??
I'm happy to see that it apparently bothers you.
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Don't know about him, but I can give you my example of CS nightmare.
Had a character I didn't like his eye color on, he was only lvl 5 so I deleted him and created a new guy by the same name. Mailed the new guy 40k credits. Never got it.
Submitted a ticket saying
"My bank alt Norabeci mailed my character named Khalm 40,000 credits and never got it. Please fix this."
One week later I got an email saying I didn't provide enough information. Please tell them the name of the sender, the name of the reciever, the server it happened on and the items lost in the mail. (An obvious chain letter if you ask me)
I stated again the name of all parties involved, the amount mailed and added the server (the only one I had characters on).
Two weeks after that they sent me an email saying the issue cannot be resolved because too much time had passed.
Three weeks to tell me they couldn't do what WoW could of done in 3 hours.
Yeah, see, that's called customer service. In TOR, CS stands for customers suck. Most people don't realize that. It's basically Bioware's middle finger to the subscriber base.
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Preordering Tera. The active combat looks very engaging, and, let's face it, it's hard to argue with cute little catgirls running around everywhere. I know I'm a sucker for that kind of thing.
Until that, I'll hit WoW for a few months. In the long term, I am banking on GW2.
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I think when I saw how limited the character design was I knew what was coming, but still went on anyway, still trying to keep my patience....
I knew something was wrong in the open beta, but I didn't cancel because I'd been following the game since 2008, and I was bound and determined to make this work, even if I found a lot of the game's design to be backwards and uninspired.
Unfortunately, my patience has just run out. I'm not having any fun at the cap, and I'm not having any fun leveling an alt to the cap (just so she can persist in not providing any source of enjoyment once she hits 50).
A shortlist of problems:
1) The engine sucks.
2) The game world is sterile; the leveling arc predictable. It was a chore the first go-around, but it becomes intolerable the second time through.
3) I hate feeling like nothing is tied together; like no dungeons take place in the actual game world; like absolutely nothing is part of a greater universe. The fleet is the perfect example of this -- it's stale, removed, and lifeless.
4) PvE is dumb. Most of endgame PvE is horribly bugged.
5) World PvP is dead. The small server sizes and sharding of zones ensures you almost never see another character while leveling.
6) Ilum is terribad, and in the next patch it will be nerfed into uselessness (Bioware's tacit acknowledgement that it is 100% fail, I guess). WZs are drab, and can border on the infuriating.
7) Class balance makes no sense. Juggs/Guards are everyone's ***** in PvP, even when they get gear. Why are sorcerers the strongest class in the game?
I could probably type up 20 more without breaking a sweat. The simple fact of the matter is: most of what is wrong with TOR is wrong on a basic, systematic level. Most of what is wrong with TOR cannot be fixed; core game design decisions that can neither be undone nor rectified. They are what make this game the mess it is.
These mistakes are the game.
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You are right, I wouldn't call the game broken.
A huge failure maybe. A con job. A crime against both Star Wars and MMO's in general. A blow to the industry.
But no, not broken.
Lol. This. This over and over and over again/
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OP, getting them is optional. Not mandatory.
By the sounds of it, you're struggling with those shelves and beams on Nar Shadda. They can be a little frustrating yes. Just wait till you get to Corellia, and the grappling hook drops you to your death lol.
It's mandatory if you're serious about your characters.
Their addition was an annoyance. It's just another stab to my heart in this death-by-papercuts game -- an element that isn't gamebreaking, but isn't any fun, either.
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If SWTOR had launched about 5-6 years ago then it would have been a great success, however, it did not but still looks and acts like it did, no features no innovation wrapped up in linear paths that treat the player like a rat in a lifeless maze.
This man knows his stuff. +1.
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I regret buying the CE. Hell, I regret buying the game at all, but the CE was a huge mistake.
BRAVO Bioware!
in General Discussion
Posted · Edited by AJediKnight
Why do people feel the need to create threads like this? It's as if the OP believes that if she 'fights hard enough' against those who are genuinely upset with TOR, they'll either change their minds or just vanish.
As someone who cares about the game, shouldn't you want improvement? Shouldn't you want designers to take note of the fact that easily 90% of the game's systems are subpar by 2005 standards, and to improve upon those failings? I guess not. Instead, it's all slash and burn; 'if you are not with me, you are my enemy.'