Here's the thing...more than half the comments in this thread are blaming Bioware for things that are outside their control. EA holds the purse strings and you can only do what you have the staff and funding to do. It also has to be remembered that if they hadn't joined up with EA, this game would never have been made. Yes, it was a faustian bargain, but we are where we are. All we can do is hope that EA starts funnelling more money into SWTOR, untieing their hands. Perhaps they already have, at least to an extent. This next expansion sounds way closer to the original vision than previous ones and you can be sure that it will be considered a bell-weather as to whether story content is something EA considerers a positive.

Yeah, I love the way the stories all tie together and we see characters in more than one story. It really makes it feel like a larger world with things going on beyond your character. And there are lovely moments of recognition when you encounter characters again or when stories intersect. The sound and music are among the best I've heard and while I think the animations and effects were actually quite a bit better at launch than they are now, they still add a great deal to what I consider to be some of the most visceral combat I've encountered. They just made some unfortunate effects and went much too far with 'bigger is better.'

At the same time, that first week when everyone in the guild was onboard and playing together in all manner of things from open world pvp to ops to gsf....that was one of the funnest tiles I've had in the game. We were trying new things and working together. I think that was the intent of conquest, but it was just too much in terms of time and credits to maintain and a lot of the guild didn't see the point when it became obvious that we could place but not win. I miss that time. It was awesome. I'm also glad I tried gsf. Turns out it's really fun once you get past the initial learning curve.

Oh, this will end well.... I'd rather swtor not emulate WoW as it looks to increase market share, myself. I only managed 3 days of a 5 day free trial. The reason swtor has more loading screens is (a) it has far better graphics and (b) it has a more robust, immersive story which requires more instancing. I'm rather baffled by the comment that Wow has the better character creator. So baffled that I don't even know how to respond to that, lol. I'm also confused about the notion that swtor doesn't have enough for casual players to do. When all 4 stories are looked at as a whole, that's 400 levels of solo, casual-friendly play that is also free.

I'm pretty sure that in the 3 years I've been playing, I haven't heard anyone say they prefer it the way it was by launch, and as it is now, which makes it seem odd to me that there was apparently so much qq about the DS titles that they changed it. Perhaps there was nome tempest in a teapot that made people think it was important to have the ls titles at the time. It wouldn't be the first time that twisted knickers won out over reason.

Sadly, I think it polarized a lot of guilds, mine included. Some people loved the competition, others felt that it was too much of a drain on time and resources which led to resentments. The big problem was that there was no way for a guild to be competetive unless everyone contributed which made some feel pressured and others, let down. It's unfortunate. I really enjoyed it but we had to pretty much let it go.

I think about all you can hope for it that the clipping through vehiclles gets fixed. That one is on the known issues list and is the most likely to be addressed at some point. The rest of it...well, not going to happen. Not with a small staff, the need to add new content on a regular basis, the number of clothing items that would need to be fixed, and the relative unimportance of the issue when compared to other bugs.

It's not against the rulles to say you're in beta, just to talk about the details of what's in it. That would lead to issues. Spouse 1: Why are you hiding the screen? Spouse 2 No reason, it's nothing! Honest! Spouse 1: It's ****, isn't it? You're watching **** while our kid is in the next room. Spouse 2: I'm not watching ****. Look, I can't talk about it. Spouse 1: OMG! I'm looking at our credit cards right now. You better not be buying fertilizer.

This isn't a thread about levelling methods

They'd still have to make it so we coulld turn it off if we wanted. That would take some coding effort and the underlying message would be 'if you play long enough and are a sub, you don't actually have to pley the game'. Not sure that's someplace they'd want to go.

I don't want this to stay. It's fun for the time it's available and good for those of us with a full slate of characters ans a bunch of 55s, but it's terrible for new players. It forces them to play grossly over levelled or skip content they've never seen. Since they mostly skip it, they have no money and no gear and if they aren't experienced gamers. They end up in a really bad position--level 50 in a mishmash of very low level gear, no crafting abilities and no idea how to survive Makeb, or even Ilum.

I think it's worth noting that the staff isn't as large as it used to be and that policies can change. What they can do llikely depends very much on whether they have people available to address a problem and how large the queue of people waiting to have something done is.

Color me intrigued! But I don't believe in 'never'. That's a really long time, lol. I'm also not much for giving up. Still, what you say pleases me greatly

oops double post, deleted

Wow, I haven't seen this thread in awhlle, lol. Still haven't changed my mind from when I started it. I want new chapters of the class stories. They were abandoned for financial reasons and because the fanbase was so irked by the lack of endgame content. Both those problems have been have been dealt with to the extent that it would be possiblle to shift back to the original intent of the game, then go back to other things. I'm not asking for class stories every six months, I'm asking for them every two or three years. They don't have to have new planets, that could be left for the faction missions. That being said, adding a class side mission to the planetary style expansions is a step in the right direction. Not only does it show we're being heard, it will improve them greatly. I now have a reason to do it on at least 8 of my characters. Hopefully, there will also be enough differences in dialogue between each class in the rest of it that getting to those side missions on each class isn't a slog after the first few characters.

I really enjoyedd the HK quest, myself. It's a nice change of pace. Whether it's soloable depends on your level and gear. They nerfed it a lot, so it's pretty easy now.

I believe the comics were done first, and they were definitely done by different artists. Hard to say why they don't include people mentioned, except that they may not have been needed for the story or perhaps they're no longer alive. Blood of the Empire takes place well before the game begins. It's a great comic, btw, as is the Theron Shan series, for those who haven't read them. I recommend them highly. And while people are at Dark Horse...check out the Dawn of the Jedi series. These may cease to be sold now that Marvel has the rights. I don't know who that was, talking to Marr, but you couldd probably figure it out by process of ellimination. I suspect it's a sorcerer.

I don't get the dislike of the knight story, mysellf. Yes, it's not as fast paced as the warrior, but I suspect the problem is that people decide before handd whether to be good or evil. If you make choices based on goals, it's a very interesting story of temptation by the dark side, with some real surprises if you were fortunate enough not to encounter spoilers before hand. Anyway, that's beside the point. Personally, I think scourge is the best companion. He has genuinely interesting and heartfelt dialogue. He has real goals. There are lots of good companions, just as I think all the stories have something to offer if one doesn't demand that what they offer is the same thing, but I think Scourge stands out in terms of character development.

You're probably wearing worse gear than last time you were there and you're there a little early. Also, I find myself gearing my complanions less well than with normal levelling as well. I all factors into the problem, most likely. Last night I found mysellf in trouble at 26 and looked at my armor to gind that it was level 13, lol. That was made of pain in a boss fight

Like the OP, I'm here for the stories and believe that it's story content that makes swtor unique. That being said, I also enjoy the group content and combat a great deal. I didn't unsub when they announced the lack of continuing class stories because I have yet to complete all the class story content, but that time is getting close. When that day comes, the amount and nature of story content in the pipeline will have an impact on whether I stay subbed, to be sure. Factional story content only requires two playable characters and the desire to repeat the content on others is low. If there are continuing class stories, however, I have much more reason to stay subbed and have all my characters available for play. That being said, I'm thrilled that there's even one side quest that's class specific and my reaction to hearing that was 'shut up and take my money', lol.

You'll get way over level. The combat will be entirely unchallenging. I'd find that dull, but it may not bother you. I don't recommend playing a bunch of characters at once. It will lessen the impact of the stories and you'll tend to have a bunch of characters on the same planets at the same time, making the side quests more repetative than they have to be. Pick one, maybe 2 characters, perhaps one of each faction, and play them through. it's just like reading. If you read 8 novels at the same time, you don't get particularly involved with any of them.

Hmm, you say you're a returning player and yet you seen shocked that this isn't an open world game. It's never been an open world game. It will never be an open world game. It's linear because it's story driven which requires moving through the story in a linear order. If you want open world, you want a different game, because they sure as hell aren't going to throw away all the stories and make a whole new game. Fact it, I'm pretty sure most of us wouldn't want them to. I know I wouldn't, anyway. I'm here because of the storytelling, not in spite of it.

Just because something isn't canon now, it doesn't mean that it never will be. It also doesn't mean that it will. Is swtor canon at the moment? No, no more than any other part of the EU, Does it cause a direct problem in writing for the new stuff? Nope, probably not, so that's not standing in the way of it being considered canon at some point--a major problem for a lot of EU stuff. They aren't going to name anything as canon that they don't have to since that will narrow their options for the future, so unless they start making movies in this time period, it will probablly stay llegend. Doesn't change anything other than whether it says legend or canon next to it.

The enduring affection for star wars galaxies is a bit baffling to me as I've only played it briefly on an emulator. That left me with the feeling that what people reallly miss is the friendships they formed, the group activities and the roleplay they engaged it. Obviously, an emulator doesn't have the same population so there was no way for me to judge that experience, but what was left...well, I dunno. It didn't particularlly grab me, not the way swtor has. It seemed grindy, often baffling and lacking in the visceral combat of swtor. To be fair, the graphics are so dated that one really can't take them into account and I have a personal bias in that I like story driven games, which means that open world games tend to lose my interest quickly. I particularly like Bioware games. After almost 3 years of constant play, I'm still engaged, I still care about my characters and I'm still having fun. Sure, there are things I'd like to see change. I'd like them to go back to the original vision where class stories were a major part. I'd like to see them stop trying to appease every single QQ and allow more things to be challlenging than they do (ie original rakghoull event as compared to the current repeating one.) Overall, though, I have no desire to see someone else take over the star wars mmo mantle, for there to be a change in style/genre, or for it to take place in a different period. Old republic all the way. If I'm right and the bulk of the nostalgia for swg has to do with friendships more than gameplay, that couldn't be recaptured, and I'm pretty sure the game style woulldn't reach more than a niche market in today's gaming world. Peoplle are simply too casual, too spoiled and too impatient for a game that takes that much work to get anywhere.

Coulld this not have been added to the last thread? Rather than repeat all that was said there about why this was both necessary and a good idea, I'll just say read the responses there.