Anyone that has been around for the last ten years or so already know this answer. If this game had been passed off to Blizzard, Arena Net, Zenimax, any number of larger studios out there, and there still wasn't a plethora of quality content being released, then yeah, I could understand the disdain, but it wasn't. Maintenance mode? No, it's not, but it's hovering just above it. This company is well aware of how much content this game now has compared to launch, so it will keep new players busy for a very long time, and that is what they're banking on, pun intended. Trickle in a bit of content here and there, that is the game now, and really, has been for years.

Yes, I'm aware, this should be obvious to anyone that has used the set before, but thank you for your insight. lol

If you haven't already found your answer, yes it does stack. I have two sets that I still use when leveling during this time.

Only going to highlight this part of your post because of how accurate it is, not that the rest it isn't, but this stands out. I've been here since beta, played the first nine years, and now I come and go. What is mentioned in this quote is exactly why I sub when I do decide to play. Anyone here, knowing the history of this game, should have known a patch like this was coming. To see so many people up in arms over something like this is laughable. The game was passed off to a company whose claim to fame is UO, the game also has a skeleton crew now. Anyone expecting any major content release is naive or has not been around this game long enough to see what has slowly happened. I'll mention it again, as I've mentioned so many times over the last few years, if you're not happy with the game, then simply move on. This is entertainment, not some life altering experience, it's a video game. lol Assuming this game lives on for another year, two, maybe five, who knows, don't expect any major expansion to hit again, it will be small patch releases with CM purchases, something that helped to save this game.

First thing that I thought of after reading the header. lol I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't at least looked at, that was a decent addition to that game, especially if you're able to create Familiars with a small stat bonus, but I seriously doubt they're going that route. If they did, then yeah, definitely borrowed it. All games should borrow from other studios, which most of them do already, it's good for the consumer.

This has been a question going back as far as launch. Over twelve years later, still waiting on a Mon Cal, which is already in the game, just not playable. At this point, it's probably never happening. lol So I play human or Chiss.

A sale of some kind from the Cartel Market. lol I chuckle, but odds are high that's exactly what will happen. As others have mentioned, usually a pet and/or double xp.

FF14 is the only game I've played where the toleration level is different than most. There you will be warned, then banned, in game or on their forums. I would suggest playing that game if this is something that people have a hard time with. The obvious answers are to simply block the person in game and/or report them, turn your chat off, etc. There is only so much staff can do with this game and their limited overhead. As someone that's been around long before the internet became a part of our every day life, we live in a different world now. There's only so much that can be done on any online platform, although entities such as Yahoo, Youtube etc., you're very limited with what you can post. Some won't allow the message to be posted at all, others it will appear your statement was posted, but after waiting a minute or so, and refreshing the page, your post is gone. I would imagine at some point, most platforms will adhere to this, but this game also started development in the late 2000's, and how a modern game would handle current chat systems might be a little more intricate than a post on a social media platform. The gist of this is, exercise the block option and report, or simply turn the chat off, there's only so much staff can do. Regarding DK, it's been the same since the very beginning of the game, it hasn't changed.

This was predictable. Unfortunately this game isn't as busy as it once was. Opening a new server, as good of an idea as it seems on the surface, those net results were to be expected. This has been discussed for a few years now and some of us mentioned that it wouldn't be wise, but hey, at least the opportunity finally arrived. Take that for what it's worth.

^ The fact people don't know that, only displays what I already know about our current education system. People actually thinking they have free speech on a private entity is laughable. Has no one noticed the threads that have been removed over the years on this platform? Including one recently about people unsubscribing? The three no-no's, politics, sex and religion being against the rules? How limited on what you can show on Youtube, including what you post? FB as well? Some of you thinking you actually have free speech in game or on the forums really need to educate yourself. The reason it's not enforced more in game should be obvious, but in case it's not, I'll point it out, there's too many people to watch over, so you have block and/or report functions in games. On the forums it's much easier to observe, peruse and remove threads as necessary. America is still one of the best country's in the world when it comes to free speech, but you signed up to this game and upon doing so, you agreed to terms. This sort of stuff really shouldn't have to be explained, but apparently when you have a bunch of armchair quarterbacks who weren't properly educated, someone has to set others straight. Read up on the Rules of Conduct if you still think you have anything close to free speech. On the thread title itself, yeah, it's unfortunate that people behave the way they do, but when you have anonymity and the repercussions are typically a slap on the wrist, it's much harder for things to change. FF14 is a great example of, you get out of line in game or on their forums, you're gone. This forum is actually fairly lackadaisical when it comes to enforcing their rules and it's undoubtedly a staffing issue, but you can always test it by starting a thread about the three no-no's mentioned previously and see how far that gets you. lol

See my previous reply.

It's not a gray area, here or any other place that decides to enforce their own rules. Take Blizzard for example, now when you sign up, you have to check off a box. Take Twitter as another example from a few years ago when they removed a certain high profile person from their platform. The owner of the Cowboys who clearly stated, you sit during a specific time during the game, you're off the team, they all stood. There are plenty of examples, it's whether or not a company wants to enforce their rules or not.

Those rights don't apply to private entities.

As mentioned previously, anonymity. The repurcussions for poor behavior is usually a slap on the wrist, temporary or permanent ban, that's it. Before the internet was around, if people decided to act up, which rarely happened, it was handled outside, not hiding behind a keyboard. These forums or even in game, aren't bad at all. Check out the WoW forums, this is nothing. If people can't handle what happens on the internet, you might want to consider not perusing forums or world/general chats at all, it's never going to change. It's mostly a parental issue in today's world and you're seeing first hand the lack of good parenting.

The joke obviously went over your head, which isn't surprising.

Create more end game content, that's what attracts more players. Not the constant treadmill of grinding the same content some of us have been running for years. Most people aleady know this though, it's why the population has continued to decrease over the years, people move on. Don't need five things, create quality content, it really is that simple. Unfortunately, this game no longer has the overhead to accomplish those goals.

Yeah, it's tough to imagine a company trying to make money, the nerve. If someone can't afford fifty cents a day, or in this case, one dollar a day, perhaps reprioritizing things might be of interest. I've been here since the beginning, thought I'd throw that out there considering someone's longevity was used, and their FTP model is just fine. As mentioned above, it's actually been vastly improved from the earlier iteration, one of the only things that stands out is their Ops passes are no longer available via the CM, which if people were around back then, know exactly why.

Odd question. Please point to where someone mentions their disdain towards the Conquest system. I'm sure there are people out there if you dig deep enough, but that isn't the core issue. It's obvious what they're trying to do, keep the carrot on the stick and forcing people to grind that much more running the same content we've run for years. And just for some clarity, grinding meaning keeping people subscribed and paying their bills.

Their motto for years has been one step forward, two steps back, right on par. Doesn't matter who runs it now, that is their M.O., and it's unlikely to ever change, it's why there's only a handful of servers left. Vote with your wallet, no point in grinding that much more. I'm sure it's been mentioned somewhere in this thread, but if it receives enough negative feedback, it should be adjusted and called an 'accident'. If not, it's not hard to figure what they're doing, they've been doing it for years.

Accurate. This is why when people come along and their forum date is 2017, the person can't be taken seriously. It doesn't mean there isn't some merit to their post, but unless they were here watching everything unfold, don't assume one of the recent 'expansions' were the reason the game failed or where things went wrong. It started from the beginning. The Makeb expansion, I've always considered it a glorified daily zone, nothing more. The Revan one was decent, but again, two more huge daily zones with a story. This company wants to try and earn back a playerbase, you nailed it, one large expansion with quests, achievements, Operations and Flashpoints is the only way this game has a chance of growing again. Essentially another Revan expansion, but bigger, and the odds of that happening have been reduced with last years transition.

This has been the biggest issue with this game since year one, the devs rarely listen to feedback, and considering they now have a skeleton crew, there's very little that can be done. It's one thing for the devs not to ask for feedback and do their own thing, but that's rarely the case, they asked for feedback, it was given and most of the time it was ignored. Peruse the PTS section here and compare it to the patch notes. Also, Amplifiers were never a reason for inflation, it was a credit sink, simple as that. The game is now over twelve years old, which in the MMO world is very good, cannot argue with that, but if you want know why this game is in the state that it's currently in, it started from the very beginning, releasing the game too soon, and the population snowballed since. * Game launches without a group finder, a 2011 game at that. Had to meet on the fleet for something as simple as Flashpoints * Another Star Wars MMO launches without space * Vehicles weren't an option until level 25 * Sprint level 15, yes, you had to run sluggishly around until that level * Anytime you loaded into a planet, you were forced to run through the orbital station prior to landing on the planet, couldn't mount up, run only * No Strongholds and daily heroics menu to short cut quick travel and/or fix their bugs when you got stuck * Speeders on planets, (the mechanized travel spiel droid) had to be opened up by visiting each area, you couldn't click the speeder near the spaceport and travel anywhere. * QT terminals, you had to click on the ones you wanted to open, couldn't travel anywhere you wanted to, you either had to run there or use your own mount * The inner ring on the fleet where the ship phase doors are located, classes had to enter their specific doors, Trooper, Smuggler, Jedi Knight etc. If you were a Trooper, you couldn't enter the Smuggler phase door for instance Plenty more I could list, those are just off the top of my head. Imagine being a new player and experiencing those things, then getting to end game and realizing there wasn't one. One Operation in Eternity Vault and somewhere in the neighborhood of 7-8 Flashpoints on each faction side. There was almost no end game compared to what it is now. That was it. People left in droves, game went FTP in less than a year. FTP and the CM are what helped to save this game. 7.0 was the icing on the cake. A ten year anniversary with delayed and broken up content, par for the course.

Yep a few times. Back before dats were Legacy wide, I dreaded that ride for that reason alone. lol It was bad enough that it was a thirty minute ride, but one wrong jump or the balloon bugs, you start over. People finally got wise and used some of the class mechanics and camped an alt on the dat, but without it, it was not something to look forward to.

It was down on my end as well. Logged off a bit ago. I'll try again later, great way to maintain a solid customer base.

Didn't get a chance to listen to the stream, but thank you for the cliff notes. None of this surprises me in the least, it's about what you would expect from a company with limited resources. What you have listed doesn't seem too difficult to develop and implement. As mentioned above, this is Star Wars and some fans are willing to accept this as the norm, the days of anything resembling an expansion are gone, preaching to the choir here, but nevertheless. lol This makes sense considering what little this company has to work with. This game going ftp and introducing the CM played a huge factor as to why this game was able to get by those speed bumps early in the its lifespan and it hasn't changed, so they're going to keep investing in it. This is right on par with what some of us expected, just a matter of the particulars.

That's what we were told last year, whether or not that is what actually occurred, we'll never know. I've worked for Fortune 500 companies before, a lot of that stuff is PR, it's a moot point either way, the game has been passed off to a company whose only claim to fame was UO. The game is in maintenance mode, nothing is going to change that, but there is plenty of content to keep its head above water for quite some time and whatever little content gets released. If there's somehow a flurry of quality Disney Star Wars movies, this game could see a rebirth, but the Sci-Fi genre in MMO's is already a niche community compared to fantasy style games with mages, warriors, rogues, archers, etc., then you mix in this game's poor reputation which is nearly as bad as SWG's, it's unlikely things will improve. That isn't hyperbole either, almost everywhere I read, most people do not like this game and think it's only story driven, and no matter how many times I try to defend it on other platforms, noting that it's not the same game as launch, that there is plenty of end game now, people still don't want to give it another try. So after the first nine years of being a sub with this game, I come and go, if it grows again, great, it not, there are plenty of other good MMO's on the market.