For those of you that don't play Dragon Age (and perhaps some of you that do), there is something called Dragon Age Keep which allows players to customize the history of the world they play in. For example, if you were playing Dragon age:Inquisition, the Keep allows you to set the events of DA:O and DA2 and those settings become the history of the world of the DA:I game you are currently playing. Also, those events affect not only the dialogue, but some small parts of the present story including a couple of quests. What I'm wondering is this: If there were to be another Star Wars game set some time after the current SWTOR, would you be interested in something like the Keep and, if so, what history would you set for your universe?

I was surprised to see how both SSG and Blizzard have stepped up and done something for their customers. Some WoW alts I haven't used in a long time can finally get leveled. Now if only LOTRO can figure how a way to undo that god awful mounted combat system. "Horses on skates" is the worst. As for SWTOR, EA/BW and not caring go hand in hand. However, maybe (I doubt it, but maybe) they'd love to do something, but it's as they say and changing anything in this game isn't a matter of flipping a switch.

Note: Bolds and italics added by me. 1) If story wasn't important, why did BW go through all the time, trouble and expense of having everything fully voice acted? Story was at the heart of the game originally. BW severely overestimated how long it would take players to get through it. 2) Do we have a better team now? I'm seeing the same complaints now that were being expressed back then. More in fact. Not only do we still have the classics like bugs not being fixed, class balance and content release, but we also have new ones like crafting and command or renown or whatever it's being called this patch. I'd complain about the cash shop, but it's the only reason the game is still going so I'll give it a pass. 3) And there it is. I've written and re-written this a dozen times so that it doesn't come off as personal towards somebody who I don't know and will never meet. Having said that, in the least personal way possible, I get the horrible feeling you're one of "them". In WoW they used to be the "Raid or Die!!!!" crowd. I don't know what they're called today... retail players maybe. Certainly necessary to any subscription based game for their willingness to do the same content over and over and over asking only for better numbers on their gear every so often. Also, anathema to story based players for their vocal insistence that any non end game content is a waste of time and resources and in fact companies should just put out a game and call it "End game: The game. Now with even less game and more end game". I'm the first to admit that end game players got royally shafted when the game released and that lack of end game played a part in it becoming the TORtanic. However, end game is a niche style of play, viable for nothing more than a small handful of players trumpeting how amazing the game is while the publisher is ashamed to announce the player numbers. In closing, if this is the best the game has ever been, I'd like to go back to 2011 when it was horribly sick.

My introduction to MMOs was Warcraft so the original Forsaken cinematic is the one that has a special place in my heart. Second for me is the opening scene in Skyrim. If I could only take one game with me to play for the rest of time, Skyrim would be it and for all of the times that I've seen it, the wagon ride never gets old. Then comes SWTOR. Like I said before, when that music hits and the crawl plays... knowing what's coming, knowing how it's changed..... none of that detracts from the feeling of "I'm in my own Star Wars movie. This is so cool."

Like so many players, I loved the original 3 chapters and progressively cooled on later content. Back then I heard the rumblings, but I didn't pay attention to them. After all I'm a story player so I didn't care about end game. I had heard enough about end game from my time in WoW that I could not have cared less if there was never any end game. A short time later I shared an opinion that many others had voiced before me: SWTOR was a great BioWare game, but a pretty poor MMO. How could a video game company making their first MMO be so blind to what the MMO market was like? Did they not realize that many many MMO players are content locusts devouring everything in their path on the way to the hamster wheel of gear chasing? Did they think they could produce enough content to keep players around at $15/month? And now I see that they never cared about doing it in the first place. *sigh of resignation* It's depressing to think that what could have been an incredible single player game with paid DLC expansions (like Dragon Age, one of my favorite games) turned into a shadow of its former actual self, to say nothing of its potential self. I'd shake my fist and scream "Curse you, EA!!!" to the heavens, but that would be beyond pointless. And yet, for all of that, I still come back from time to time. I even pay to do it. However, it's not because I expect things to improve as I've long since abandoned hope, but rather because even 8 years down the line I still get a little rush when the opening music hits and the introduction plays. Third best video game intro of all time for me.

Just a thought, but you might consider posting polls so that you can get a small feel for which way the wind is blowing on particular topics. The threads are great, but often devolve into snark and cynicism.

While only a player like yourself, I disagree with you on a fundamental level. Namely, the identification of the problem. I believe that the problem is that that the SWTOR team has been tasked with trying to make decisions made from on high palatable to the player base. Eric, Keith.... hell, Mark Hamill could come in here and post and it wouldn't make any difference if the higher ups have sent a message saying in effect "We don't care how you do it, but figure out a way to maximize player hours in the game for the smallest investment possible." And if this is the case, there is no way Eric or anybody else is coming onto the board to say it. Their job is to sell the game to us whether there is 8 new 3 chapter class stories coming or a single 15 minute one size fits all op. Under no circumstances are they going to say anything that might chase players away. Solution: LIE TO THE PLAYERS AND DON'T STOP LYING. This is a sales job. It's Office Barbrady standing in front of a burning building telling people to move along because there's nothing to see. Barring (and possibly even with) catastrophic losses, SWTOR will stay up and running to keep EA/BioWare from looking like they somehow managed to totally blow it despite having one of the biggest IPs in the world.

Posts like this remind me of how absolutely ecstatic I was upon learning that he was moved over to Anthem.

Maybe it's because I'm older, but I think every male character should have this playing at all times. Nothing says "In total control" more than this.

Count me among those that will be dwelling in the Undercity. SWTOR isn't a game about players anymore. It's a game of metrics and user hours spent doing what and all of that garbage that business people think will allow them to make a great game. I came back for a few months, ran some alts through the class stories and when my sub runs out I'll disappear until either the class stories will feel fresh again or WoW Classic comes out and I'll likely be gone for a long time. I was going to make a joke about the possibility of a SWTOR Classic, but the sad truth is that I don't think enough people would care.

One incident above all others for me tells me how BioWare feels about its players. It's one I've brought up many times and one I'll keep bringing up. Back when the CXP system first started there was a massive nerf to CXP as a result of some eager beaver supposedly powering up to level 100 in a day or two. During the stream, a member of the streaming panel who shall not be named said that the players weren't playing the game the way BioWare felt it should be played. In other words, what we want means nothing to them. Our feedback is meaningless because they already have an idea of how things are going to be and that's that. We post because we care about the game, but I haven't seen anything from BioWare that's lead me to believe that anything has changed since then.

From what I've read, the story only lasts 10-15 hours so it needs to have something that brings people back. I'm not the looter shooter type so I'm not the best judge, but if it doesn't do something original I'm not sure how it stands out from the crowd.

I don't know if Anthem is DOA, but at this point I do think it will perform well below EA's expectations. SWTOR will have a tough time getting its people back since, based on reviews, they'll be spending years writing patches for Anthem. As for Ben, well all I can say it that it's nice to see his magic touch bringing out the best in Anthem like it did SWTOR. Well, that and my sig.

Didn't they do a massive nerf to XP when CXP first started because somebody got to level 100 in one day? I think they farmed the living heck out of goldframed beasties. Either colicoids or sand people.

Even if you choose to go through and play without a love interest, the game is almost written to try and force Lana on the player. It's not the players being in love with Lana that bothers me. It's the writer being in love with his or her character that bother me. I suspect it's at least in part due to budget reasons, but the pendulum swinging the other way can definitely leaves a bad taste in one's mouth.