I agree with those that say that the leveling process is already too fast for anyone who enjoys pacing through the story at his/her own pace, so I probably won't play during the weekends. So, please consider adding what Everquest 2 has: an XP toggle that applies to quest experience, killing experience, etc. Thanks

Looks like it's going to be quite a crowded summer on TOR, after all

If you are a new player, or a returning one who doesn't mind to start over (like me), this is basically a 9/10 : it makes the game more polished, with "quality of life" features added like the group finder, plus additions to Legacy and crafting. IMO, it's the ideal time to join the game for those who were still in doubt or, like I said, that are willing to start over. Of course, rating might be drastically lower if you already have multiple 50s and in bad need of brand new content.

I must say I'm quite disappointed by the lack of chat bubbles even after Update 1.3 . Hopefully, the Dev Team will manage to slot this feature somewhere into Update 1.4

Everquest 2 has this kind of "turn off xp" toggle that comes in various forms: for example, you can stop getting xp when you kill mobs, but you will get xp when you turn in a quest. I like to have an "even" quest flow, where I don't overlevel the mobs too much. With a character, I have to restrain myself from both Space or PvP if I want to check out all the quest missions and flashpoints, and it's a pity, IMO. With adjustable XP toggles (and I guess those legacy perks are a start), the situation pictured above would be no longer necessary.

For its importance in the previous KOTOR games: Dantooine Reading the SWTOR timeline, the moon of YAVIN IV seems pretty important too (ideal for a Flashpoint/Operation, at least). Also, I love the Selkath species. Everyone love the Selkath, right?. Manaan, then, even if that means going underwater. Yes please.

Great to hear! Awesome and useful tool for us roleplayers

For EU RP-PVE, The Progenitor and Trask Ulgo are pretty much healthy; no "heavy" numbers but it seems to me that you can often find someone else to group with.

- In-gane events should echo through the world, so the introduction of a "news network" is a nice piece: consider using it more for random blurbs every now and then, not just for planned events. - While they need to echo through the world in order to give them a "global" feeling, please keep the fleet as a "free" area (but you can still use the news network). - Build events that even low level people (talking 10/15+ ) can partecipate in, or at least watch closely through other means (the news network) to avoid the "oh, here I am grinding while all the others are having fun". - Even if I'm not a PvPer, among the best events there are surely dynamic PvP ones, when you have to defend/attack an outpost. For a week or more, a planet or a particular outpost can become a world pvp hotspot with attached rewards and events.

Personally, I would be satisfied enough if they include: - Chat Bubbles - Increase of "neutral" gear (while we wait for a more fledged out sub-system) My favourite long term features would include minigames (pazaak, races, spectator modes) and ship customization, but I think they will be part of an expansion.

7.5/10 Good game, excellent when it comes to personal storylines; diverse ways of levelling (quests, PvP, space etc.) . Badly needs chat bubbles and server merges.

Fundamentally, all of the above; on the other hand, on a *healthy* (with "healthy" being a keyword, here ) server, the flashpoint rotation is higher so, while not instant, it's easier to find a group. That is not the case for heroics: you can skip them quickly while questing, so it's more likely to give up or overlook them: knowing that a group finder for heroics is at your disposal, though, might make things easier and actually push you to try the heroics out.

While I started playing this game back when it was released, I took a break from it around the beginning of February, without getting a character to 50. So, I returned once 1.2 released, starting anew, and the "new player experience" is much better, I must say: more polish, more customization, more content, everything is really better, IMO. Still, I understand it's the point of view of someone who is "new" (or, better said, an "old, new player" ) : maybe, for those with multiple lv 50s the situation is radically different (and it's normal, really). But, again, if Bioware wanted to attract new players with a more polished experience all around, I think they did a pretty good job with this patch (and hopefully, it's not too late).

Nice, you colour-coded the server population again Please try to use the collapse/expand function more all across the website, as well as windowed menus. For example: collapse/expand server list and patch notes; also, categorize the patch notes in relation to the month ( January 2012, Febraury 2012 and so on). More horizontal, tabbed and categorized navigation, less vertical one (don't want to destroy my mouse wheel )

I hope they'll add more neutral gear too, as they hinted a while ago (I think James Olhen, among others); as a roleplayer, I play without light/dark side indicators on the dialogue wheel, and while I can obviously tell what I'm going to "get" with a certain answer, the reaction of my character might lead him toward unexpected paths, and end up being grey. There is no min./max. involved or the wish to take a side or not, just the (roleplayed) individual reaction of my character to a certain situation.

Pretty good on a 24" monitor (1920x1200) Color-code the server population in the server status page, tho !

Admittedly, I haven't watched the guild summit video, but I think I read in one of the community Q&A that, while bubbles wouldn't be implemented in 1.2, they're definitely planned (maybe between 1.2 and 1.3 or 1.3 at most?). Let's hang in there

While they might still be far away in the live development cycle, are mini-games (pazaak, pod races etc.) currently on the so called "wall of crazy"? Do you think they'll just stay "crazy" of there is a possibility to see them in-game, someday?

I quickly read through the pages of this thread and I'm surprised I haven't seen mentioned the "You have my gratitude" of the male Jedi Consular

LOL :t_angel:

Heh, hopefully he was just trolling. I understand that, in the last few years, MMOGs attracted a large variety of players and playstyles, not only roleplayers or people who originally intended MMORPGs like virtual worlds where you lose yourself into (see: UO, SWG and other sandbox games), but the OP attitude, while legit, is extreme and almost silly.

It's happening to me with my Consular too, already noticing the trend while on the verge of leaving Coruscant for Taris, and I still have to do any space combat and/or PvP. There are two motivations, really: - it would be great if Space Combat and PvP had full-fledget sub-systems that don't result in a "general XP (so, other kind of rewards) gain. At that point, you could introduce a "general XP on/off" toggle when engaging in those two activities; - roleplaying: my jedi consular, "lawful good" (in D&D terms), likes to help everyone: I like to roleplay, so it makes sense for my character to do every quest, heroics included. Then, the outcome may vary (light side/dark side), but the original point still stands. On the other hand, my Imperial Agent, while on the Empire side, *isn't* a bloodthirsty bastard, always looking for something illegal to do, hence he will turn down job offers that, in his opinion, are too shady or just a waste of time. And, infact, with my IA I'm more in line with the leveling curve.

Thanks for the link, just finished listening to the interview: of course nothing in particular was revealed, but it's an interesting piece nonetheless

It would be quite pleasing to receive an official statement about this, similar to what happened with the "high quality textures" thread. Although, in this case, I think it's a simple matter of priorities (fixes and balancing over the introduction of new features, no matter how simple they look to implement), and we'll get them sooner or later.

Excellent and well thought out message, OP. As a sandbox MMO fan, I really agree with a lot of your points: I think that TOR would really benefit from some of the features you mentioned, without necessarily "losing" its theme park roots. I'm especially referring to all that apparently "fluff" stuff that improve immersion, without the need of creating entirely new systems (housing, not ship customization which we may get in the future, as outlined by the Devs before release) or modifying the engine (like day/night cycles). Hopefully, we'll see small improvements here and there as development proceeds (for now, I would be happy enough with chat bubbles, more chairs to sit on and similar additions).