Different people different persuasions. No reason to hate on others. Some of us know how to balance hardcore gameplay and loved ones.

It's because people like me left. I got sick of not being able to play my main because my quest story bugged and my main alt got stuck in a rock and because I was "floating" in the rock I couldnt unstuck or fleet pass out. After 5 days of this situation I threw in the towel.

IMHO every zone in EQ was loaded with much more back story than a single zone in SWTOR or WoW. It just wasn't obvious and you had to do some looking to discover it.

This guy isn't a BW employee.... he is just one of those mmo purists who will defend a game till the next one comes out that he can drool over.

I finally unsubscribed after my main got quest bugged and couldn't finish her class quest. Then the alt I made while I waited on support got stuck floating in a rock on Balmorra and I couldn't unstuck and I couldn't die or fleet pass. Five days later I threw in the towel.

We had sites like allakhazam and tons of class specific sites... the thing was there was so much under the hood and so many hidden things in the game that even the websites weren't sure. Also, lacking maps and such made the world much more entertaining to explore. You can't play games like that anymore because it requires you to follow such a set path.

I think the biggest challenge SWTOR will face is the fact that it's a current gen MMO and we are about to enter into the next generation. It came a little too late.

EDIT: Accidently double posted.

The story was much more subtle but at the same time it had much more impact in the way it was presented. Oh noes, we are talking about how we enjoyed something other than SWTOR, better troll. =/

Look, im not asking for EQ1 to come back or for a new game to made in that direction. I just miss the good ole times and that unjaded sense of wonder as you went out in it's incredibly massive and explorable worlds. I think no minimaps/zone maps made the game a lot more interesting when you had to actually keep up with how you traveled.

I'm starting to think that Old School EQ had it right, not that it would work in today's market. I enjoyed SWTOR, don't get me wrong... but I enjoyed it more like a Mass Effect single player game and less like an MMORPG. The only real reason to group was to do the occasional heroic quest, or to do a flash point. Of course SWTOR's mechanics,graphics, story, etc are leaps and bounds above EQ, but EQ had that special something in it. EQ in my opinion actually felt like a world to explore. There were no rails to guide you on leveling. You hunted, traveled, and explored to find new niches and leveling areas. The zones themselves and the monsters within them told the story without the need of quest logs. Things were actually hidden and quests required you to think, explore, and experiment. Back in EQ, you got together in groups just to explore dangerous areas to find out what was there. Traveling through the world itself was an adventure. There was mystery in the game. Player driven myths about incredibly rare mobs existed. Dungeons were difficult and maze like. You would bring a player with you just because you knew they could navigate a certain area well. Death was a bad thing. You could lose all your gear and your level. You fear death and that made exploring new areas and taking risks more exciting. I will never forget the fear of crossing Kithicor forest and seeing the Sun set in the distance. What was normally a friendly zone for levels 5-8 because a terrifying nightmare of 40+ elite monsters at night. The whole zone became a living hell. Hunting gear was important as early as when you broke away from your newbie zones. Every zone had interesting and useful gear drops that could last you 10+ levels. The problem with the game? It was hard. It took work and time to do a lot of what was necessary. If you were a jerk or troll, you got black listed and your reputation was ruined. It took months to level. A lot of us weren't bothered by this. But it wasn't enough to make it mainstream. Unfortunately, the world has changed and mainstream mmos are required to have fast paced leveling and easily obtainable... everything. It makes me sad really, because I know we will never have anything like it again.

Yeah I just unsubbed after my main couldnt finish the storyline quest due to a bug and the high level alt that I made got stuck in a rock where I was constantly floating so /stuck and quick travel wouldn't activate properly. After FIVE DAYS of waiting on support I decided it was time to throw in the towel. Some of the class mechanics were fun, but it wasn't anything I haven't seen in other recent MMOs. Lots of fluff and gimmicks. This game is not revolutionary enough to be a contender with all the horrendous bugs that it is plagued with. Like all other MMO releases, there will be purists who defend the game until the servers close... or the next new MMO releases. Each time they will tell us to go back to WoW even though we never mentioned it in the first place. Sad really.

Sorry OP, I think you were expecting too much from the forums. It's full of people who have blind faith in the game and refuse to acknowledge any issues it has. These people wished so hard for this game to be good that they are afflicted with a very strong case of cognitive dissonance. In order to relieve the dissonance they ignore issues and focus on the parts they like. I love this game, and I want to to succeed. For it to succeed, someone has to step up and point out issues that need to be handled. Unfortunately, it gets drowned out by all these trolls who convinced themselves there is nothing wrong with the game.

I couldn't find a suggestion forum, so I dropped this here. If there is one and by some sheer twist of fate I missed it, I apologize and I would like it moved there. Lore: The Holotech was born and raised on Nar Shaddaa programming holo-dancers for local nightclubs. His incredible skills ended up being his downfall. A local Hutt of the planet recognized his talent and "permanently" employed him. With what little free time he had, he spent perfecting new augmented reality holotechnology. Fearing the Hutt would steal his life's work, he put his new technology to use in order to escape. Explanation: The Holotech over charges either a generator or shield generator in order to bring his holograms into reality and effect those around him. Whether he is creating illusions to mislead enemies, or using his shield generator to give the holograms he creates substance, he can be a deadly and misleading force. Advance Class Overviews: Augmentech- Specializes in augmenting reality through use of a shield generator to provide substances to his holograms. Whether he creates and army of holographic vine cats or generates various rigs of of holographic weaponry for his use, he is a force to be reckoned with. Uses a Shotgun Holojammer: Focuses on empowering his holograms through the use of a personal generator. Where the Augmentech gives substances to his holograms, the Holojammer empowers them with energy, making them deadly to the touch or allowing them to use their energy for healing purposes. Uses a Blaster Rifle Abilities: Augmentech Tree: Interactive Life Augment Life: Predator- Generates two of the same bioacurate predators from the current planet that you are on to attack enemies. Each augmented predator can only attack four times before they run out of power and fade away. Augment Life: Stampede- Summons a variety of wild life from randomly selected planets from your holonet encyclopedia and sends a stampede of them towards an enemy. All nearby enemies are trampled as well. Weak and standard enemies are knocked down. Augment Environment: Bog- Augments holographic bog at target location that slows enemies who trudge into it. Can be talented to become a poison bog and deal damage to enemies over time. Augment Environment: Jungle- Generates a faux jungle with trees that have long vines hanging from them. Large chemsnakes will hang from trees and coil around those who pass into the small jungle environ for a a few second, stunning them. Augment Obstacle: Glacier- Generates a small glacier at target location that cuts off line of sight and prevents enemies from passing. Augmentech Tree: Weaponry Rig Engineer Gatling Gun- Holographically recreates the schematics for a large shoulder mounted dual gatling guns that fire upon the targeted enemy, channeling damage over 4 seconds. Engineer Grenade Volley- Generates an oversized grenade launcher that fires several vollies upon target location. Engineer Air-strike: Generates a flurry of anti-personal air to ground missiles far above the enemy that rain down upon him. Engineer Siege Cannon: Generates a larger siege cannon that fires upon distant enemies. Cannot be used a close range. Holojammer Abilities: Holojammer Tree: Viral Slice Bullets- Loads your blaster with cybernetic bullets containing a potent computer trojan virus. Instantly infects most droids lowering their combat capabilities and makes them vunerable to the Holojammers other attacks. If biological beings are struck by the bullets, they install cybernetic implants, providing vulnerability to the holojammers attacks. Being sliced or having implants installed can be painful, deals bonus damage on hit. Slice Assassin Droids: Slices into three derelict droids with blaster rifles under the ground and brings them to the surface to follow and fight for the Holotech. They are very fragile. Slice Assault Droid: Slices into a shielded assault droid mounted two cannons and brings them to the surface. Tough, but it's ancient battery does not last long. Mindjack: Slices into neural net of the victom causing intense pain and stunning them over 5 seconds. Must be afflicted with Slice Bullets. Holojammer Tree: EMT Personal Doctor: Generates a hologram of a personal doctor that follows a friendly target and constantly provides medical attention. Each time the patient is wounded, the doctor will treat the wound, healing for some damage. Will only treat five wounds before fading away. Bionet: Projects a holographic net made of pure energy onto a target, slowing them. They take damage if they try to move from their location. The further they move from the original tether, the more damage they take. Repulsing Ward: Places a holographic ward around a friendly unit that damages and knocks back enemies who attack from melee range. Thank you for taking the time to read this massive wall of text. My love for the omintool from Mass Effect as well as the amazing holographic armor that the Engineer has is what inspired this. If you took the time to read it all, I applaud you. I had writing it. If it's TL;DR, im sorry if it upset you. ;P

Lore: The Holotech was born and raised on Nar Shaddaa programming holo-dancers for local nightclubs. His incredible skills ended up being his downfall. A local Hutt of the planet recognized his talent and "permanently" employed him. With what little free time he had, he spent perfecting new augmented reality holotechnology. Fearing the Hutt would steal his life's work, he put his new technology to use in order to escape. Explanation: The Holotech over charges either a generator or shield generator in order to bring his holograms into reality and effect those around him. Whether he is creating illusions to mislead enemies, or using his shield generator to give the holograms he creates substance, he can be a deadly and misleading force. Advance Class Overviews: Augmentech- Specializes in augmenting reality through use of a shield generator to provide substances to his holograms. Whether he creates and army of holographic vine cats or generates various rigs of of holographic weaponry for his use, he is a force to be reckoned with. Uses a Shotgun Holojammer: Focuses on empowering his holograms through the use of a personal generator. Where the Augmentech gives substances to his holograms, the Holojammer empowers them with energy, making them deadly to the touch or allowing them to use their energy for healing purposes. Uses a Blaster Rifle Abilities: Augmentech Tree: Interactive Life Augment Life: Predator- Generates two of the same bioacurate predators from the current planet that you are on to attack enemies. Each augmented predator can only attack four times before they run out of power and fade away. Augment Life: Stampede- Summons a variety of wild life from randomly selected planets from your holonet encyclopedia and sends a stampede of them towards an enemy. All nearby enemies are trampled as well. Weak and standard enemies are knocked down. Augment Environment: Bog- Augments holographic bog at target location that slows enemies who trudge into it. Can be talented to become a poison bog and deal damage to enemies over time. Augment Environment: Jungle- Generates a faux jungle with trees that have long vines hanging from them. Large chemsnakes will hang from trees and coil around those who pass into the small jungle environ for a a few second, stunning them. Augment Obstacle: Glacier- Generates a small glacier at target location that cuts off line of sight and prevents enemies from passing. Augmentech Tree: Weaponry Rig Engineer Gatling Gun- Holographically recreates the schematics for a large shoulder mounted dual gatling guns that fire upon the targeted enemy, channeling damage over 4 seconds. Engineer Grenade Volley- Generates an oversized grenade launcher that fires several vollies upon target location. Engineer Air-strike: Generates a flurry of anti-personal air to ground missiles far above the enemy that rain down upon him. Engineer Siege Cannon: Generates a larger siege cannon that fires upon distant enemies. Cannot be used a close range. Holojammer Abilities: Holojammer Tree: Viral Slice Bullets- Loads your blaster with cybernetic bullets containing a potent computer trojan virus. Instantly infects most droids lowering their combat capabilities and makes them vunerable to the Holojammers other attacks. If biological beings are struck by the bullets, they install cybernetic implants, providing vulnerability to the holojammers attacks. Being sliced or having implants installed can be painful, deals bonus damage on hit. Slice Assassin Droids: Slices into three derelict droids with blaster rifles under the ground and brings them to the surface to follow and fight for the Holotech. They are very fragile. Slice Assault Droid: Slices into a shielded assault droid mounted two cannons and brings them to the surface. Tough, but it's ancient battery does not last long. Mindjack: Slices into neural net of the victom causing intense pain and stunning them over 5 seconds. Must be afflicted with Slice Bullets. Holojammer Tree: EMT Personal Doctor: Generates a hologram of a personal doctor that follows a friendly target and constantly provides medical attention. Each time the patient is wounded, the doctor will treat the wound, healing for some damage. Will only treat five wounds before fading away. Bionet: Projects a holographic net made of pure energy onto a target, slowing them. They take damage if they try to move from their location. The further they move from the original tether, the more damage they take. Repulsing Ward: Places a holographic ward around a friendly unit that damages and knocks back enemies who attack from melee range. Thank you for taking the time to read this massive wall of text. My love for the omintool from Mass Effect as well as the amazing holographic armor that the Engineer has is what inspired this. If you took the time to read it all, I applaud you. I had writing it. If it's TL;DR, im sorry if it upset you. ;P