The Last Jedi opened for advanced showings tonight. I just got back from it myself. Chances are the people that would chime in... are just processing right now. I agree with you though. This promotion was probably one of the worst ones yet... but does directly remind me of some stuff they tried to pull in SWG to get new subscribers. I can't really say while misleading current subscribers... because that's how SOE/LA kind of handled it back then. I think in this case... there just wasn't much communication on the nVidia side of this or we would've seen more current subscribers, in addition to new players, getting them on the GeForce Experience side of things. The doubles... is just like... bantha poo doo icing on the cake with the to be expected... we'll pay outlandish sums of credits for a code posts... which in turn... I really hope they're paying attention to this thread... is why people wind up exploiting, Devs. It isn't right, but this is def' one factor that will drive that cart. Unfortunately, I don't have an answer myself. To give out more codes... or just make it give away now would make it a sour deal for those that finally got codes. But... this was poorly handled. Hopefully they get it... but, again, I do think it was more of an nVidia mishandling more than a Bioware mishandling. Although, maybe in the future, clarify what you'd like the promotion to do with the people you're partnering with for these.... and consider your playerbase reaction to it too. Because there will be one. Always.

Personally, I think they botched up the handing out of codes and just started double handing at an attempt to calm people down. I think it's probably going to have the opposite affect though. A fun promotion just turned into a horribly handled failure.

If there is a silver lining at all... there seems a good possibility this will go to court now. So, the fight isn't over yet. This certainly isn't a win for the people though.

I have a feeling each code is unique or... we would've probably have seen a shareable code posted by now. This particular promotion has def' left a sour taste in the community's mouths I think. But it seems it was made a little more fair by ensuring at least some people that actually do already play SWTOR got codes too. It is what it is.

A friend on Facebook posted this. Not sure if he came up with it or if he borrowed it... but I saved it and did a repost so I could remind people later on with those handy little year reminders on Facebook. QotD: “This will be a day long remembered. It has seen the end of 20th Century Fox, and will soon see the end of Net Neutrality.” Silver lining... Disney owns 20th Century Fox meow. Help us, Mickey Mouse, you're our only hope! ><

Maybe it is just the pessimist in me, but it feels like they had to contact nVidia and tell them to hand out some codes to detected users of SWTOR for this. No code on my end, but at least it sounds like it was a little more "fair" in making sure all GeForce users were being considered and not just targeting new Subscribers for this promotion now. Player retention is just as important as player growth to put it another way.

I saw this in a Cosplay picture the other day and instantly wanted one. Holiday Jawa! Just a Jawa... but with red cloak and black bandoliers and such to get in the Life Day spirit. Some more little touches like that and putting little hats on the Rakghouls in the Tunnels would've gone a looooong way in making things even more festive. Not too late to add any of these is it?

Funny part is... they did promote it by posting it on their Facebook page as well. They made a nice little banner and everything. Then... didn't really manage who this was aimed at very well... I guess? As in the other thread on this... it would seem they, indeed, may have specifically targeted new players for it. Which, yes again, makes sense. However, if it'd been truly random... shouldn't we have heard from at least one forum user here getting it despite being a subscriber since that doesn't seem to have had anything to do with the contest? IE... it at least is starting to feel like GeForce Experience users that maybe didn't have SWTOR installed were more likely to get a code than someone who did? Eh, with luck, they'll see how riled this has made people... and we'll get a reskin of the speeder/armor for the rest of us.

Nothing so far on my end either. It really does sound like it was targeted at new players. Which, ok, sure... I think we can all understand. However, as someone pointed out, they seem to have failed to realize that most of the people using it would likely already be currently subscribed players. All I can do is *smh* till we get confirmation that players that are already subscribed did get some codes.

I do my best not to feed the CC beast anymore. However, back when I would participate in the RNG loot item gamble game... I'd sometimes pop open the collections window and mouse over the objects I most hoped to pop.... or joke in guild chat about never pulling 'x' item. My old guild leader had some weird "Fett"ish about it I think. If they found out more than one of us bought Hypercrates... they'd go get one too and insist we open our packs together on the guild flagship. It was an odd ritual-- but one I think back on fondly now.

If they could implement it, I'd be all for it. I'm only one case but you do point out an instance for me in your post. When I do wind up doing Ranked that's where my mindset is. When I do Unranked, I honestly don't want to Deathmatch. I prefer the objective based stuff then even if we're getting face rolled. In that respect, I'd welcome an added 4 man queue if it meant not pulling an Arena Unranked when I'd rather not be doing Deathmatches. I think it'd possibly help out Ranked too. It would actually give you a reason to have the Unranked 4 man arenas in there for the sole purpose of "practice for Ranked" if you feel like queuing up for both 8 and 4 man anyway. Not sure if I've helped your point or not. But I'd support seeing it happen. Because if the game can't support it in the state we're in now... we're in real trouble.

I'd be ok with it myself. But one reason they left it was to sell the snow ball launcher a couple Life Day's back. IE... if they were both on almost the same cool down... I'll bet people would scream bloody murder. I'm not one of them and I did buy the launcher. But that cool down does seem a tad long. ><

Unfortunately, I think the only way to actually keep from seeing spoilers from the hind ends of Banthas in General Chat in game is going to be... make sure you have General Chat turned off till you watch the movie. Guaranteed someone will get on there just to be a... what Wil Wheaton said. Tickets for Thursday here at any rate. Tissues ready for the obvious thing. It has Mandalore's stamp of approval though and that is good for this Vod. Oya and Utinni! May The Force Be With Us... Always. ...all that good stuff.

Well, it is new in the sense that it has added things to it the Alderaan counter-part doesn't. I managed to play it a few times and rather like the map. Takes a little getting used to calling out Trees or Statues instead of Snow or Grass though. To be honest, my only gripe with it is... I wish we could've gotten it Sooner. I know at least a few people that would like a Voidstar map that is a Republic cruiser instead of an Imperial ship... just to have aesthetic variety even if it plays out mostly the same way as Voidstar. I'm going to say Good Job on this one!

I know it sounds funny to at least a couple of you that have watched my few posts here on SWTOR and maybe did remember this handle back in SWG. But I did once apply for a Community Representative job while SOE/LA still had SWG going in Austin, TX. Unfortunately, I couldn't make the interview for the job at the time it popped up due to family stuff on my end. What is my point? Oh yeah... This falls somewhat under the same circumstance that an employee of a company will never ask you for your password. Basically, they can't give us specifics on what is going to happen. About all they can say is that, "Yes, SWTOR Community. We are aware of the exploiters and do take this very seriously. However, we can't tell you the actions we take against another account or accounts." Seriously, when they let us know... it will look like that. It is all they can say under the circumstances. And, yes, what happens may wind up being a slap on the wrist compared to what we'd like-- but it is what it is. I wouldn't lose complete hope though. I have a feeling if they're waiting to sort out the whole mess it could get as cheerful as, "We'd like to announce that we've restored x billion credits to the galactic market after various entities tried to embezzle their way to the top!" I might get fired... but that's how I'd handle it with a CR spot here once the mess was sorted.

And just because I need some levity today... "Go for the eyes, Boo! The eyes!"

Yeap, they appear to be up again. The 180 day cards aren't showing on my end... so they may just be doing some tweaks to what they want available yet? Same art though so... seems to just be a dealer distributor snafu that happened? We now return you to your regular... does this mean we are or aren't getting an expansion discussions.

I'm going to say you pretty well summed up why it doesn't quite have it due to misjudging what the player base actually wants-- because we are a difficult bunch to gauge and please. This has really been a problem with mmorpgs since the beginning. I guess we could say mishandling has been a problem from the start. The engine is a big factor too. How can SWTOR get "it" though? Well, chances are if it doesn't have "it" for you now... it never will. Like fellow SWG players... that game design (whatever incarnation you liked) had "it" because we liked playing that. SWTOR isn't set to magically change what it is as far as I know. But they could for sure start by just sticking to The Road Map that was posted and continue to try and make this a AAA mmorpg again. We're not in a pretty place right now to be sure... but once you get to a certain point, you can either start going up again or just switch off.

Basically, to reiterate what others have already said... it would shut down. You'd probably have to dig to find it (and it may vary slightly from state to state) but there is also what is called ownership of the game code. This is why when most games get scrapped-- you usually don't see anything in development of that game in any incarnation of it that comes after (if a title gets rescued) and winds up only being in name only. In this case, Bioware (EA by default) owns Star Wars: The Old Republic game code even though it is a Disney property now. If EA were to lose the online license agreement for Star Wars games... it essentially shuts down. Now Disney then can buy or sue for the rights to the code-- but it'd be easier just to start over to be honest. At least I'm not recalling any instance in the mmorpg industry where it has happened yet. Basically, even now, all those SWG emulators are only allowed to stay running as long as they don't make a profit and really only on a whim. If they ever get a cease and desist order... they have to turn them off. It'll be the same thing here. When, rather than if, SWTOR does finally reach it's last day... there will be people that get the code ready to run emulators. And even those emulators will be subject to the same governing rules. Game code design ownership is basically why you don't want to see a game go unfinished or shut down in this case. It pretty well buries a game in legal terms.

*nods* This has been in there since launch. I guess the real question becomes how much does each story have to go out of it's way to acknowledge our species selection? I'd like to see more of it to be sure, but I also wouldn't want it to be a dialogue issue every other sentence just to point out that... yes, indeed, my toon is a Sith, Twi'lek, Chiss... etc. Just where it might actually matter or have some bearing... as with the Yavin 4 scene you mentioned, OP. The little details in the right places make it a neat experience.

It wouldn't be the first "big" death we've had. Having said that, I'd rather hope they've learned from the Vette or Torian thing and have it be optional to the player and don't pull another one of those on us. Either/or is just about as bad as... too bad, he's going to die imho. I'm skeptical though since we know a little more about what is going on with him.

Since a few retailers still at least have physical cards in limited stores and some online transactions (namely Best Buy as people have pointed out) it would at least seem like this is just marketing at the moment. We're just going to have to wait for an official response or till Amazon and a few other retailers put them back up with new goodies or marketing banners (for the next expansion). Either way, like SWG before it, I think it's safe to say that as long as EA retains the contract... SWTOR probably isn't going anywhere. It does feel like the game is getting in the same shape we were in back in SWG's 6th or 7th year before they announced the shut down during year 8 though. They only have to keep it running 2 more years to beat SWG's record. I'm sure they want to do at least that. I remember someone pointing out that... they could just be selling more direct from site too versus their retailers. So, maybe they're just scaling that back as well for more direct profit for the game. We just don't have the details right meow.

The fact that we're still able to play after a 5 year mmorpg shelf live is, in of itself, somewhat amazing to be honest.

I'm having a hard time being optimistic, Holocron. I mean, I'm trying to look at hard facts. They only have a contract for x years now. And versus things like... most mmorpgs having a standard shelf life of about 5 years? where does that put us as consumers? Where does that put them as developers? What about the misgivings we have as consumers versus their job as a business? I think SWG just made me bitter. I hate micro-transactions despite that being the new business model for mmorpgs. I think we got better quality content before that came into the picture... but a lot of you... it's the only thing you've ever known. EA has a bad reputation with mmorpgs. But with the whole BF2 thing... I feel like we're due a big announcement anytime. I'd like to think Disney is about to step in and say a few things... but I'd prefer to hear it from EA. *shrugs* An announcement that the game will still be here at least until EA's contract runs out would be nice... but even I don't know what I'd like at this point.

I feel a slight sense of nostalgia here... in part because I know a few of you were with us back in SWG... and another part in because I just feel like history is repeating itself. Either way, Happy Holidays people! I don't think we ever get what we'd want or like... but maybe we'll get something we can live with?