Quoted for TRUTH!

I just switched back to FFXIV ARR because frankly SWTOR has lost my sub loyalty now. I have like three months or so left on it before it expires completely so there's time for them to pull me back in and I hope they do but as it stands...newp. Anyway, I am loving FFXIV. Nice change in atmosphere, tbh. I would LOVE a Mass Effect MMO...as long as it is given better treatment than SWTOR was/is. Normally I am a Fantasy genre gamer but Star Wars and Mass Effect are the only two Sci-Fi ones that I really really like. Truth be told, a Mass Effect MMO (if done right) appeals to me even more than a Star Wars one for some of the very reasons you state above concerning lore, etc.

Hi. I am not talking about the gear grind, the collections, etc. I am talking about the planetary heroics grind for your alliance and companion influence. That is not legacy-wide it is per character. It's a tedious grind of old content with diminishing returns. It has even LESS value when it doesn't matter what character class you play, the KotFE story line is going to be the same regardless. It is not an alt-friendly design in a game that was built around alts and a foundation of a wide range of story lines based on class as well as choices made. That's all gone now once one hits KotFE. Sorry for confusing you. I should have been more specific. Edited because my typing stinks, lol.

The patch notes show the upcoming patch taking a giant dump on raiders and DPS players...just what in the heck? I swear it's feeling more and more like the crap that lead up to the mass exodus of players from SWG. Yes, I know...an SWG reference...and I am loathe to make it but...it's just uncanny. Four more months left on my sub and I'll give it an honest go because I have loved this game from day one but it's not looking promising for the following reasons over an above the upcoming disaster of an update looming over us on Tuesday: 1) No individual story by class. You take one class/character thru KotFE and you've taken them all basically. 2) Concern over if pre-KotFE companions, especially romanced ones, will come back at all and, if/when they do, are they going to be dynamic characters with a furtherance of their interactions/growth with my player character? If they are simply going to be fighting/healing vanity pets, that's a deal-breaker for me. 3) The grind. Holy crap, the GRIND! If it was legacy-wide, I would fine with it but I simply am NOT going to do this horrific grind on all my alts...or even some...of my alts. One for each faction is barely tolerable but any more and I will figuratively shoot myself in the head with my own blaster or throw myself upon my own light saber. Which leads me to... 4) I have grown very attached to some of my alts and their stories and journey but the gawd-awful grind in prohibitive at best (my opinion only, others mileage will vary) so they will sadly end up gathering dust. 5) Choices matter? WHAT CHOICES?!! Really, to what choices do you refer? Romance cheating? Okay. Buy I have yet to see any of the potentially big choices that have presented themselves result in actually GIVING my character an actual "say" in how they respond or...having their response actually effect the direction of the story. Perhaps it's meant to be far-reaching or further ...much further...along in the chapters before we notice these alleged "choices matter" effects. Okay, I'll take that possibility into consideration but the fact remains that thus far some really great big choices were snatched from my character's hands right from the get-go. Kneel or don't...if doesn't freaking matter in the end, is a good example. Just...meh. 6) FP's turned into Tactical's from hell. No balance, just slap some Kolto tanks in there a whoa-la. 7) And, quite frankly...the community. It's as divided as I have ever seen on any MMO I've played and I started playing MMO's way back in the day with EQ. I thought WoW's community was bad but SWTOR's is tied for first place now. The trolling, the attitudes, etc. I'm not (only) talking just about forums. I'm talking about in game. It's to the point where as soon as I log in, I immediately turn chat off. I sure as hell don't want to run FP's etc with everyone screaming "SPACEBAR!" and cussing a new player (or any player) out if they actually want to watch the cut-scenes. The community is making the game environment very hostile and negative. I game to get away from political crap, religion crap, racist crap, terrorist crap, and people just going out of their way to be jerks to one another for laughs. I get enough of that in real life. Well, I'm locked in for four more months...actually 3.5 now I think...so I will give all these rekt changes an honest go but really, I see myself moving my monthly sub back to FFXIV, and playing Guild Wars, and the great single-player games that are out and soon to come out, etc. The community in FFXIV on my server is really friendly, no one throws a hissy-fit if your a new player and want to watch the cut-scene in an instance, etc. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy that game and the community there. It's rare to see constant trolling and bickering in chat in the major areas. It's such a refreshing change. They have a new expansion out as does Guild Wars 2 and they aren't 30 minutes of material. Anyhoo, I have no idea who is making the actual decisions on this stuff but they need to have a good slap upside the head. I'm sure the game will survive for a while even with a steady loss of consistent subs but really, I'm just left smh now days.

I hope you weren't holding your breath.

They seemed to have other priorities....

You find that hard to believe? Really? If someone finds a game they absolutely love, and there is tons to do in said game (ie: all the different stories and classes etc) then why wouldn't they stay? These days a 2-hour movie and large soda cost you about the same as the monthly fee and you get a lot more for the money than 2 hours of entertainment. So no, I'm not throwing BS around. I think I was unsub'd for a month once due to illness and surgery. I was a beta tester and sub'd since day one beyond that and I am one of those who are seriously considering letting my remaining sub time run out and not re-up'g.

Not that and that alone. My decision to potentially not re-up my sub when it runs out is based on several things. This is just one more thing to add to the stack of things that take a dump on the player base.

In the words of my Southern auntie, "Y'all done lost yo damn minds".

My sub, which I've had since day 1, runs out in four months. I'm seriously considering if I will re-up. If during this next four months the devs impress me all well and good. However, the things that are not impressing me currently and giving me pause are: 1) No individual story by class. You take one class/character thru KotFE and you've taken them all basically. 2) Concern over if pre-KotFE companions, especially romanced ones, will come back at all and, if/when they do, are they going to be dynamic characters with a furtherance of their interactions/growth with my player character? If they are simply going to be fighting/healing vanity pets, that's a deal-breaker for me. 3) The grind. Holy crap, the GRIND! If it was legacy-wide, I would fine with it but I simply am NOT going to do this horrific grind on all my alts...or even some...of my alts. One for each faction is barely tolerable but any more and I will figuratively shoot myself in the head with my own blaster or throw myself upon my own light saber. Which leads me to... 4) I have grown very attached to some of my alts and their stories and journey but the gawd-awful grind in prohibitive at best (my opinion only, others mileage will vary) so they will sadly end up gathering dust. 5) Choices matter? WHAT CHOICES?!! Really, to what choices do you refer? Romance cheating? Okay. Buy I have yet to see any of the potentially big choices that have presented themselves result in actually GIVING my character an actual "say" in how they respond or...having their response actually effect the direction of the story. Perhaps it's meant to be far-reaching or further ...much further...along in the chapters before we notice these alleged "choices matter" effects. Okay, I'll take that possibility into consideration but the fact remains that thus far some really great big choices were snatched from my character's hands right from the get-go. Kneel or don't...if doesn't freaking matter in the end, is a good example. Just...meh. 6) FP's turned into Tactical's from hell. No balance, just slap some Kolto tanks in there a whoa-la. 7) And, quite frankly...the community. It's as divided as I have ever seen on any MMO I've played and I started playing MMO's way back in the day with EQ. I thought WoW's community was bad but SWTOR's is tied for first place now. The trolling, the attitudes, etc. I'm not (only) talking just about forums. I'm talking about in game. It's to the point where as soon as I log in, I immediately turn chat off. I sure as hell don't want to run FP's etc with everyone screaming "SPACEBAR!" and cussing a new player (or any player) out if they actually want to watch the cut-scenes. The community is making the game environment very hostile and negative. I game to get away from political crap, religion crap, racist crap, terrorist crap, and people just going out of their way to be jerks to one another for laughs. I get enough of that in real life. Four months. I'll give this game, which I have loved so much, four more months. If the story and game play makes it worth it, I'll re-up. If the above generally remains the same or, god-forbid, gets even worse...sadly, I'm gone too.

I can't decide if I should call you a troll or compliment you on your sarcastic humor. I'm not sure which is accurate.

Erm...expecting someone who is playing a GAME to have to approach said game with a "work ethic" implies that the "game" is now a job...which kind of defeats the purpose of well...being a game.

Honestly I am loathing every minute of the planetary heroics grind. I would be a LOT more inclined to do it on my alts if I knew my KotFE story was class-specific and changeable per toon but that is not the case. Every toon, will play EXACTLY the same with teeny tiny barely there differences. That makes the alliance/companion grind abhorrent on more than one character. This results in much-beloved alts sitting in storage while I grind grind grind on one toon alone and the thought of doing that same exact grind all over again on an alt which will have ZERO effect on my story-play-through on said alts off-putting. Just NOT going to do it. This and a few other issues are causing me to have serious doubts as to if I will re-up my sub after the remaining four months runs out.

I have to wonder...fearfully...if the return of HK will be a disappointment. Will he, like Nico, just end up being a fighting/healing vanity pet with a few lines like "Report: Dead" and that's it or will we get him back as a dynamic character like he originally was in early KotFE? This worries me about all the companions they bring back from pre-KotFE as well, most especially those we've romanced. I think the utter disappointment of having a romanced pre-KotFE companion return and be little more than a fighting vanity pet would be extremely disappointing. As disappointing as not having them come back at all. I am holding my breath and biting my nails. I don't know if having basically all one-dimensional companions except for Lana, Theron, Koth, and Senya would keep me in the game or not. If romanced companions were to become that or not come back at all...yeah...for me that would be the end of it. I'm so nervous because I want to like the new direction of the game. I've been here since beta. SWTOR has always been my go-to game.

I picture my toons all being in their late 20's to early 30's...like 28-33ish. Still young and vibrant but old enough to have had the experiences they've had through the play-through.

Better watch those accusations of lying, my friend. My husband just subbed a couple of weeks or so ago and is brand new. He's a casual with two jobs so he only plays a night or so a week. He'd love to have a strong hold and the decos but the decos are horridly expensive for a new player. I also know some kids that just started playing and this will make them very happy. So you can stick your accusations right up your wazoo.

Absolutely. I just tossed the fireworks. These rewards I will actually use.

Yeah, it kind of was because your very first response to reading the OP's post was:

If they make me repurchase all my crafting schemes AGAIN to the tune of several thousand credits, I will blow a fuse.

Really. Never ceases to amze me when people get mad at being given something...a gift basically...that isn't even required...and yet they get pissed that the "gift" isn't big enough. Entitlement much? Folks like that must be hell to buy for during the holidays.

Yes and I hope any player caught killing quest givers etc is reported. Try to get a screen-shot of it to back up the report. These players need to be given a good account slap down.

That IS nice! I know some folks who couldn't afford one yet and they will love that!

Sadly, I think people do that in a vain attempt to disarm the snooty types which descend if you dare criticize the game or who simply enjoy picking something apart for some kind of e-jollies. In this case it backfired because here you are....descending...and focusing on something that is entirely inconsequential to their actual topic.

It's hard to know if there is any future companions or content gated behind the companions we currently have to recruit. I loathe PvP but forced myself on one character to go through it. I hated it...every single second of it. I got some kills, got some deaths, but really I was easy prey in my PvE gear which means not only is forcing people to PvP unfair to the player but it's unfair to those PvP'rs who rely on their team mates or to even those in the opposition who want to enjoy a good hard match rather than plowing down PvP newbs over and over. Once I got my companion I was and am content to never step foot in PvP again on the character unless forced. Let me just say this now...I DISLIKE being forced. However, I think all you have to do is talk to the companion in order to satisfy the alliance end of it. You don't have to actually follow through and recruit them. You should still get future notices of recruits as long as you at least go and talk to 4X. I could be mistaken but I think that's how it works.

YUP! I usually take a look at some of the green "trash" now to see if it looks cool. I found one in particular I like and added to the appearance tab. I got a crap ton of whispers asking me where I got it,e tc. When I told them they were all LOL. There is some really cool looking "trash" drops. I also like that I can wear my companions starting gear for appearance if I want. Like Mako's initial leather outfit looks awesome! The gear that has the stats I need etc is usually just butt ugly or mismatched. My new BH must look fantastic as she kicks bad-guy behinds!