The point of this thread is 1. To vent and 2. to throw out some ideas. Rather than reduce this to a litany of why I think SWTOR could fail (and it's much too early to tell and I despise the naysayers anyway) I'd rather help address some problems I've seen and maybe offer some solutions. To that end:
When I first heard the rumor in December 2005 of a new Star Wars MMO, I was still reeling from the fallout of the SWG/NGE debacle, and with it, I had a new hope that there just might be a proper Star Wars Universe put to game after all. I followed it obsessively as a hobby, played in the Beta, posted on the forums and I even attended the Guild Leader Summit this year in Austin, TX hoping to be heard, but I was informed they were only interested in feedback on 1.2 and would not be hearing any further game related suggestions. From start to finish I saw pitfalls and gave what humble feedback to no avail. With that said, I offer my perspective for your input, suggestions, flaming and so on, in hope that maybe, just maybe someone from BW might actually deign to consider what is said here.
SWG for all it's failings, drama and mishandling by SOE, should not have lasted as long as it did, so why did it go nearly a decade? In my opinion, the community shared a love of Star Wars and were second to none, even the trolls. Next, I would attribute SWG's unusual stamina to the following, and may BW take heed:
The keyword in MMO is MASSIVE, hence, one of the things I loved about SWG were the sandbox open worlds. I could pick any random directions and just go. I was not limited by terrain or mazes and forced to take a certain path to my destination. I loved the freedom of that and it aided in my absorption into the game.
Housing is a must imo. I could spend hours 'martha stewarting' my own city, home, etc and essentially make my own theme park. It was a gathering place for RP, a warzone for open world PVP and the best of all, was my bragging rights to show off my in-game trophies, etc. Having a place to call my own that I could fully customize to my personal satisfaction made me feel I 'owned' it and was therefore truly a participant in the Galaxy. Man I miss my little dirt hovel on Tat.
Interactive furniture...sure it sounds like a small thing, but when I'm not killing or getting pwnd in PVP, I like to RP from time to time. As such, it's a little lame to have to stand, or sit sprawling on the floor when IC. Just a thought.
Space, JTL is hands down one of the best Space fighter sims ever put down imho. Not that Starfox wasn't fun, I mean my kids loved it, but guided flight is akin to a guided missile, no point but to hang on for the ride. When I think of flight, I think of freedom of movement, split S's, Immelmans, aileron rolls, etc.
ID's (aka Barbershop for you WoW-Kiddies ) I know this is low on BW's priority list, but really? I know I'm not alone when I say this, but SWTOR has easily made me into a hopeless Altoholic. To such an extent at one point I had 32 toons to which I finally scaled down to 8. I know excessive, but I like variety and to be able to change my look when I get bored of it and right now, the only way is to re-roll or to hide my ugly mug with a mask of some fashion.
The CTS can't come fast enough, but I fear my Main will be left stranded on a low-pop server as they may limit what servers I can CTS to. I'm presently on a heavy pop with all my alts, waiting for Big Daddy Jedi to make his arrival that may never come. I hope I'm wrong.
Lastly, and I know it's been mentioned, but 8 character slots with 16 possible AC combinations (not including spec trees) is limiting my creativity. I'm not asking for 16, but I could definitely use 10...just spitball'n here.
So as not to end things on a down-turn, I love the animations, the voice overs, the artwork and the music, incredibly well done BW, so I thank you. It is my desire that as a relative rookie to the MMO realm you can quickly learn, adapt and most importantly communicate with your players so that SWTOR will live up to the franchise's potential and make this into the truly one and only Star Wars MMO that SWG fans had hoped for all those years ago.
MTFBWY,
A'Sharic Zell
PS: Before you ask, No I did not read all 10 bajillion pages of forums, so if there are issues I pointed out already addressed, then by all means link it or go back under your bridge trolls.