Well, I've played WoW, AoC, among other P2P MMORPGs and let's just say that $15/month will not stop most undesirables from playing a sub game if they want to play it.

I don't care about the pay model but the entertainment value of the game. Having said that, F2P business models vary wildly. Some are actual "pay to win" games, while others have modified sub options and cash shops with purely cosmetic/convenience stuff (Fallen Earth). What I like about F2P is I can have a few games to mess around with. Subscription games need to justify their fees though, and most of them currently (including this one imo) don't.

I'm curious if, in 8 years, anyone would even bother making a similar thread for SWTOR.

Stormtrooper # 263. Bet no one even noticed it.

The new Volkswagen Beetle. It looks a hell of a lot like what we've been seeing for years, but way overpriced, less customizable, doesn't have the lasting power and is marketed to tweens.

A long time ago, before game devs treated us like willing lab rats, people played games for the fun, challenge and the camaraderie that came with it. It's not too late, take the blinders off Neo.

Really? Even the bargain bin Fisher Price sarcasm detector should be flashing red.

It's yellow +2 endurance unless you have iodine droplets in your eye, then it's orange

Absolutely not. End game is one of 2 gear treadmills. You should've got all your hokus pokus "variety" out of the way 1-49 See you in EVE.

No. Sterile world feel, Nar Shaada/Coruscant questing areas look like impeccable hospital corridors rather than seedy underworld. Environments seriously lack atmosphere. Being on rails is fine but try to at least give the illusion that the scenery isn't just wallpaper. Nothing for explorers. Datacron collecting isn't exploration, it's a min/max grind for stats. Putting stats on them basically made them a necessity ala Biochem; exploration should be about discovery and adventure, not crossing off a checklist. UI/macros/mods. I'm not a fan of parsers and IWIN mods like DBM, but give us some ability to customize a bit. What we have to work with is abysmal. Alignment system = morality grind. Rewarding 2 extremes... you may as well have had us check "Jesus incarnate" or "Diabolical psychopath" at character creation and spared us the trouble of having to pick dialogue choices. The "grey" gear implementation is just a 3rd facet to this fubar, as it'll likely encourage being purposely neutral and as close to the middle as possible. Stat items like the relics should have nothing to do with how you want to play out your story. Space. Should've just left it out until something better gets implemented. My main gripes. I think the companions, group dialogue options and the story are all awesome, but it's not something I can justify paying a sub for when I can get a more immersive and enjoyable single player experience from Skyrim.

The urge to finish my class story. Now that that's over....

Yea, if you didn't spacebar through the story you'd know that Keeper tells you to lose the accent when going undercover to not give away your Imperial ties. It's on purpose.

That's funny, I loved Tat and hated Hoth. Hoth felt like a white Tattoine with subpar story and lore. The sandpeople/jawa history and the Czerka stories were great; Hoth felt like a mob grind.

Butthurt bittervet perspective is not at all representative of the overall player experience. Sounds like you lived in carebear NC space before they got kicked out of their sanctum farming grounds. I play EVE currently, and your scenarios are not what I experience. Then again, I live in lowsec and get all kinds of pvp daily minus the 50 MOMs/logi fleets. Regardless OP, don't listen to hater trolls (or perceived "fanboiz") and make your own opinion.

WAR was fun but the OP is looking for 3 things as quoted: Open world (WAR's very instanced, and separated by level zones like SWTOR) Massive (world size is teenie, even by SWTOR standards) People and social interaction count (there are probably more ppl in Jita right now than all of WAR; also, the social aspect is SWTOR's caliber, with an even more abyssmal crafting system/economy, no politics or diplomacy needed etc) Oh, there's no dealth penalty at all in WAR either, which the OP seems to want as well.