Perhaps the first nerf was too severe. @ BW Next time try with a smaller nerf to start with and ramp it up gradually to hit that "sweet spot." Heaving said that the idea of bringing some more challenge to the game is a good one. Personally I really enjoyed the challenge after 4.02 . Being forced to use more skill, CC, and heroic moments with my 65 lvl char plus 30 lvl companion was a welcome change. Doing some heroics was much more difficult or even impossible with my 40 lvl char. I have died several times before I learned how to do it right. Playing was fun again and it required concentration instead of just mindless grinding. Then again I guess since weekly heroics is a mindless grind no matter how you look at it, perhaps some people prepare to do it easier = faster. I worry that as a result of the over nerf now you over buffed, again making it too easy...

/signed

Of course. No one in their right mind can say they hid something. If they actually did they would be legally screwed. On the other hand there is vast difference between communicating something clearly in such a way that it can be understood in a few seconds and creating a false impression. Why did so many thinking people felt sure everything is clear: Like a Jedi mind trick: move along, there is no need to scroll down to read the fine print... What BW did is a perfectly normal marketing tactic, but if you don't understand how so many could miss something so obvious read some studies about cognitive science, and about how the brain filters information etc. Ultimately what is right or wrong here is up to an individual player... I have already wasted enough time on this game and now I am continuing to waste it by arguing with people who simply have a different point of view. I do not accept marketing tactics that can mislead so many people, however "dumb" we are in your eyes. I am done writing here and from now on I will vote with my wallet. Disclaimer: @ Bioware I applaud your effort to make this game relevant again with the KOFE expansion, with all the hype around Star Wars these days it is indeed an opportunity for SWTOR. I may be feeling sore and cheated but I still respect the individual hard work and dedication of many people at BW who have nothing to do with bad decision making and marketing strategy. Best of luck and may the force be with you. :-)

No argument there. The problem is that BW and EA cater to the mindless locust consumer market as evident by their attempt to create yet another WoW clone. SWTOR was suppose to be the next WoW killer . I lamented this fact back then writing about the mindless locust decease of the industry etc. I love the Star Wars universe and I imagined what they could have done with all that money if they used it for something a bit more innovative and sandboxy similar to what Mr. Roberts is trying to do with Star Citizen...

This is what it's all about for me^^: You are right and yet it was clearly a good marketing idea for the company since so many subscribed during that period. So the anger and frustration has little to do with actual early access and the few hours of bug-filled content we are missing!

Its not about early access for me. As stated above, Its about trust: Some may disagree and say it was clear etc. And we can argue back and forth till the cows come home . I think that so many people being "mindless locust" about early access rules is a clear evidence of communication problems. End of story.

As I said above: mindless locust consumer mentality - many people didn't scroll. Let me ask you a question: Since so many didn't read the text below do you think making it clearer on the top of that page that early access is no longer available would have helped_?

This has nothing to do with entitlement or whining for a handout. I was always happy to subscribe when I played SWTOR in the past. I came back because of the promo for KOtFE and because I somehow understood that I will get early access and get to test the new game for a couple of days before my 3 weeks long business trip on the 24th. So no, waiting those 5 extra days now gives me no joy, especially since I have been playing for hours the last 3 weeks trying to catch up with the content after a long brake. Am I to blame? Of course! On the other hand it is also clear that mine is not an isolated case, hundreds if not thousands of people made the same assumption. That indicates that despite the fact that all the correct info about early access rules was out there it wasn't as transparent or unequivocal as one may think. I am not going into a whole semantic argument why using the word "choose" matters or why advertising something after it is no longer available can be confusing. There are plenty of threads out there that deal with this issues. The bottom line is this: Most of us today process tons of data on the daily basis, as a result a lot of decisions are made quickly and are based on associations rather then on careful analyses of said data. In this case since so many made the same mistake simple logic indicates that their choices were based on past experiences ( with similar offers), and a degree of common sense. Unfortunately buyer beware and common sense are often at odds with each other. Conclusion: Are we to blame? Absolutely. Not reading the fine print and simply assuming early access was still available is a symptom of a player plague I often call: The mindless locust consumer mentality. Does it mean that BW has no blame at all? Absolutely not. Whether by design or by mistake BW has crafted an advertising campaign that mislead a lot of people. If we don't fight this plague it will only spread as developers will get away with stunts which give them easy cash injections so they can justify their balance books in front of their shareholders. I don't want a hand out, I have already subscribed. But the simple truth for me and many others I suspect is this: I am simply too old to waste my time and money on games developers who do not see the long term value of unambiguous communication and the difference between clear promotional statement and blurred hype inducing advertisement. I will cancel my automatic subscription renewal - the only communication BW will understand, in the long run... And those of you, silly trolls, who jump up and down in glee at all the tears and whining wishing us farewell... Think again, because if enough people leave, ( especially people like myself who always play subscribed, - @Bioware feel free to verify that ) what do you think is going to happen with this game for the rest of you?

Don't get me wrong, I am definitely blaming my "blindness". Yet if there is many people that made the same mistake/omission there may be more to it then my inability to read the fine print. . Where you ask? Right in the middle in bold text: http://www.swtor.com/fallen-empire/rewards And blame? I am simply asking how many people failed at reading this promo correctly? Is it dozens, hundreds, or more? I never free played this game, always played as a subscriber and after year brake I came back attracted by this promo. Would have waited a few more months if I read the fine print and understood that early access is not available anymore. I am simply saying that if there are many people who made the same mistake one may argue that the moment 10th of August deadline passed this statement: "BE A SUBSCRIBER ON THE DATES BELOW TO EARN REWARDS IN-GAME AT LAUNCH* ...could have been removed and replaced by something more unambiguous: AFTER THE 10th OF AUGUST EARLY ACCESS IS NO LONGER POSSIBLE , but you can still get the following gifts if you subscribe etc.

Yes, keep pointing out the obvious :-). I am curious about the less obvious - how many got exited enough, like me, and did not read the text below and FAQs. Mind you, I read development blogs and watched online stream...

"BE A SUBSCRIBER ON THE DATES BELOW TO EARN REWARDS IN-GAME AT LAUNCH*" translation: "This is not the fine print you are looking for, move along - early access still relevant" I wonder how many of you got "mind tricked", into thinking that early access was still available if you subbed after the 10th of August. I failed to read the fine print and I am curious how wide spread is this "self induced blindness" phenomena?

At first I was thinking this was unintentional by BW... After all if you read the fine print on the bottom you would understand immediately that early access after the 10th of August is no longer possible. But how many people read the fine print? I got "mind tricked" by the promos: "you don't need to read the fine print just subscribe" So I subbed for 3 months on 17th of Sept. I have played like mad to try to bring as many chars close to 60 before the 20th of October early access... I wanted to catch the first 4 days of the new story mode ( I am traveling for a month after the 24th), and now I feel crushed. Today, it is obvious to me that the marketing/sales team must have counted on the hyped-up people like me to not read the fine print. I mean why keep advertising the early access in September if its no longer available? The way it was done is clever enough that you cannot directly accuse them of misleading you - the relevant information was there all the time - underneath the promo. At the same time the promise of early access was vague enough that without reading the fine print you could get tricked, notice the little star after the bold text - that's your only real clue that something needs to be clarified: "BE A SUBSCRIBER ON THE DATES BELOW TO EARN REWARDS IN-GAME AT LAUNCH* The moment that the 10th of August deadline passed this BS ^^ should have been removed and replaced by: AFTER THE 10th of August EARLY ACCESS IS NO LONGER POSSIBLE , but you can still get the following gifts if you subscribe etc. Dear BW team, I applaud your effort to make this game relevant again with the KOFE expansion, with all the hype around Star Wars these days it is indeed an opportunity for SWTOR. In the end however whether you mislead unintentionally or by design of your corporate masters at the EA, you have lost me as a subscriber, for good this time. Yes, I should have read the fine print bla bla bla, so don't blame the developers some say... May be that is so, but the only truth that matters to me at this point is this: I am simply too old to waste my time and money on games developers who do not see the long term value of unambiguous communication and the difference between clear promotional statement and blurred hype inducing advertisement. I will cancel my automatic subscription renewal plan - the only communication you will understand - in the long run. Disclaimer: I may be feeling sore and cheated but I still respect the individual hard work and dedication of many people at BW who have nothing to do with bad decision making and marketing strategy. Best of luck and may the force be with you. :-)

It thats the case they should have highlighted that fact a bit better i.e. only subscribing on those particular dates - example: Nico's duster on Sept 30 - will gives early access. I and many other people it seems understood: subscribing any day before the 30 of September will give me the duster plus early access.

Well I do have a level 60, and I have no KOFE story to play... and I didn't get my new free level 60 as well. After reading the fine print I simply realised that those gifts: bikes, Niko's blaster or duster is something you get immediately only if you have early access ( subbed before 10th of August). If you subbed after 10th of August but before the 19th of October you still get your free lvl 60 ( they will cost cartel points for all the others) plus your gifts but only with the main launch on the 27th.

Maybe it only means that you will get that bike plus a lvl 60 once the game goes officially public on the 27th? Those lvl 60 chars will normally cost cartel points so you will be getting one free plus the bike after 27th. What do you mean you have early access? Can you play the new KOFE story? If not then I am probably right and we have been mind tricked :-)