I think Darkchip may be inferring too much into an acronym. Massively Multiplayer Online (Role Playing Game, seems to be left out so often) implies just that : 1) Massive world (in terms of server load capacity) 2) Multiple players can inhabit the same world at the same time 3) Online vs downloaded/standalone data/asset/game/entity/program Nowhere in an MMO (MMORPG or MMOFPS or MMOX) does it imply a required gameplay experience with (or even against) other players. The genre was originally created with IPs and games whose gameplay DID require players to interact to achieve certain goals. But also not required to experience the world at large. Persistence and availability to interact with others are the hallmarks of MMOs, not required "teaming up."

I will say that the one thing I do wish we had a bit more of going forward is a persistent planetary environment for the worlds like Manaan/Nathema/Iokath (ok, radioactivity being what it is, I get Iokath, but... we can get around that if we can innoculate against rakhgoul viruses and Quesh toxins).

I don't disagree that KOTFE/KOTET are hyper-linear storylines. But there still exists a persistent world with storylines that get continued and expanded. That's what Bioware does, that's what Bioware has always done. This is a Star Wars game first, MMO second. And a non-traditional MMO at that. Strangelove the experience!

Ok, but SWTOR was never even contemplated to be advertised as a sandbox MMO.

While the morality issue is something that is a clear personal choice... I think people tend to conflate Dark Side/Light Side of "The Force" with morality. The whole Shan-Marr angle was about Jedi Code v Sith Code. The Force is simply what the Force is - but it is not a morality/motivation choice. Oh, and btw, the references to Valkorion being a proponent of "Grey" alignment is premature. KOTET revelations and all that.

I concur with the OP. Especially at this point in MMO development, why must we assume all MMOs "play" the same? The concept is the ability to interact with other players, not necessarily to do the main content with other players. I, for one, am thinking that MMOs really provide 2 distinct yet valid functions for gamers: 1) A social gathering place for people who share a common interest in an IP/lore/setting/style. A visual, interactable reddit/forum if you will. 2) A place where a single gaming story/experience can be persistent and updated and expanded upon more easily than DLC for standalone games. The nature of MMOs as large raid-fests still exists/can exist in certain games. But why not be happy with SWTOR being a persistent Bioware storyline that continues to be explorable and updated for those who enjoy playing in that world?

This would be amazing! I would love a memorial holo at the very least. A Memorial Garden decoration for Centerpiece or even Large would be so lovely.

Signed Signed and forever signed! Maybe we could have the Fischer-Organa Plains for new Strongholds??? ;-)

Totally. Or even weapon racks for a collection (ala the medium floor cultural weapon racks).

As I was toying around with new decorations, I noticed I really liked the hanging sith lightsaber decoration wall-mount for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it is a welcome change from artwork or lights. Which got me thinking, we have all these weapon unlocks for our legacy, and while we can use mount and pet unlocks in our strongholds, we can't yet showoff our cool weapon unlocks. What would it require to be able to allow our unlocked weapons from collections to be utilized in our strongholds? I can't imagine I'm the only one who would love to show off my entire lightsaber collection in a training room in my Jedi Academy on Yavin 4. ;-)

Actually, the DS option to save the holocrons has a nice resultant mail as well:

Opening of Chapter 3? Yah... that's when you should have a few levels knocked out between Chapter 2 and 3 with bonus series, flashpoint, warzones, etc under your belt.

Oh sure. I'm not saying get rid of orbital stations. Just provide us with direct-access opportunity to the planet.

You do realize that all of your objections are subjective, and that hardly qualifies as "a disgrace"? If Bioware existed solely to please you, that may be a fair statement. But it doesn't. Personal preference masked as legitimate gripe... le sigh. I truly hope Bioware round-files this "open letter."

I would very much like to see an option for us to travel directly to a planet without having to go through ship-orbital station-planet. Option 1: A Legacy unlock akin to the Priority travel unlocks. OR... Option 2: If you have completed the planetary mission, you have direct-access in your General skills. OR... Option 3: CC purchase to make our fast-travel skill available to any terminal we've unlocked. I would not mind this being gated by ~Legacy 20-25 and a significant CC/credit sink. Just an interesting QoL issue that would be incredibly helpful going forward with multiple alts and desire to help friends/guildies/newbies on planets quicker.

This can be seen also as a direct function of the fact that if a mob is -7 levels below you, they will not aggro and do almost zero damage to you if/when in combat. Remember that exp. is actually an abbreviation for experience points. This severe cut in the experience is directly proportional to the experience gained from the action.

Which proves the point of rank political opportunism. Can't you see Saresh campaigning along the lines of "If the Supreme Chancellor just provided a little MORE assistance, Taris would be able to be once again a jewel of the Republic. Instead, due to his inaction, we have an ecological disaster on our hands, a sapienitarian crisis on our hands, and the Empire once again made us look like fools. I was willing to work tirelessly to regain even a semblance of our honor and glory, but the Chancellor would not allow it to happen. Elect me and there will never be another Taris again!" It's a powerful rallying cry - not sloppy writing at all, if you take the logical leap to how campaign politics works. ;-)

I disagree. It was made quite clear that Taris was a huge PR campaign for the Republic... Taris was never considered backwater in the planet-story mission. Once a city-planet like Coruscant? Site of huge atrocity? Ability to claim Republic can "bounce back" from Imperial annihilation? It was a big big big deal politically for the entire Republic. I said that the Order is the the only organization that is presented as clean by BW. I never said that it was either squeaky clean or actually clean. And by clean, I mean stable, solid, consistent and adhering to the morals inherent in the system. Watching the Imperial-side against the Order will always make the "enemy" look in the worst possible light. Quite frankly, while some of the dialogue is bland, I believe that the overall story-boarding on both sides is strong and robust. You only get the "whole picture" from experiencing all the available options, and even then it still is an Obi-wan "version" of the truth.

I made the jump from Ebon Hawk to Harbinger last week and have been loving it. Main a JK and an Agent, and can tell you both sides are much more balanced than Ebon Hawk.

I love this point! I haven't done the SW storyline after the initial storyline, so can't really comment to how the Warrior plays out on Makeb and Rishi and Yavin. However, I agree with you that Colere seems very soft. At the end of the day, if for no other reason than I have always thought of colere as a passive term rather than an active term. Why not something more primal like Orage, if Marr is already the Furie?

I think this is more a function of BW depicting the entire political structure as corrupt by nature. After all, that seems to be a common meme both IRL at the moment and in the Star Wars universe as a whole. I don't think we're all supposed to be Hoorah Republic in all the stories actually. Jedi Knight and Consular are much more concerned with the fate of the Order above the Republic (clearly tied together, but not inextricably so). Smuggler? No. Trooper is the only one that seems to be focused on Hoorah-Republic-ism. And actually, most of the pro-Republic options tend to be DS according to Bioware. If anything, I think Bioware is trying extra-hard to make even Republic-side characters dislike the politics and structure! In terms of Saresh - I like that the political leader of a high-profile planet who has little to zero policy/leadership experience but happens to also be the member of a race that has historically been second-class at best is elevated to Supreme Chancellor. It definitely makes the rank politics of the Republic overt. In my opinion, only the Jedi Order is the "clean" organization as presented by Bioware...

I get the point of the OP in terms of the trailers, but I wonder why the rest of the OP message doesn't make as much sense... *Quality and look of gear? That's so purely subjective to a personal taste that it barely warrants rebuttal. But at least there is no reason here to claim favoritism. *Storylines? Yes, Agent is the best written objectively - crisp, engaging, motivating, etc. But if you recognize that the Agent storyline actually is about destabilizing the Empire's Sith-dominated ruling structure and providing a "civilized" world order, that hardly is a step in favor of Empire. After all, objectively, the Jedi Knight storyline makes the most direct impact on the entire storyline as a whole (kill Emperor?). So in terms of class storylines, the Jedi Knight storyline is the "most important" in terms of meta-story. Chalk that up to pro-Republic bias, yes? *Sith-dominated planetary action? That's just a function of the fact that the Old Republic was an extant governing entity and the Empire is a relatively newly resurgent player in the galaxy. Core worlds are all Republic, Outer Rim is well, OUTER RIM, etc. Of course in this setup the Republic will be in a defensive posture and the Empire in an aggressive posture - which of course we recognize as a stalemate for both sides when it comes to Voss, Makeb, Hoth, etc. Hell, Republic won Corellia, the Sith storyline post-Corellia is all about losing the main war. If you focus on the aggressor and assume that initiation of action = preferential treatment, then that's wholly personal observation bias. Objectively? It's a story about the timeline where the Old Republic is the established main force in the galaxy and the Sith Empire tries to wrest control. Struggle! Who will win? We know that TOR won eventually so that they had at least 1500 years of civilization until Ep 1...

This is normal practice for almost all game updates with significant changes. Patch notes, IIRC, specifically state that the notes do not encompass ALL of the changes.

Just FYI, not all of us "left" due to game conditions... some of us may have left for a time due to real life time constraints (/raises hand). ;-) I would consider myself a loyal "founder" (even though I am not fond of making the title a status-symbol thing) even though I took off 9 months since I remained subbed and interested in the news/updates/goings-on. Loyalty doesn't have to mean just in-game presence.

I really like MSI gaming laptops, personally. I had the same issue as you (early 2012 macbook pro), and the change is like playing on a desktop rig at least in terms of quality difference. However, I would suggest grabbing a naga Razer mouse to travel with as well.