I think this might be a good start is renewing a relationship with the player base. Perusing the forums in the past few weeks reminds me of the Dragon Age forums around the time DA2 was released. That game was such a departure from Origins that there rose a huge backlash from the players with their negative feelings about the direction that franchise took. David Gaider, Mike Laidlaw, and Mark Darrah, as well as other members of that dev team were all actively involved in those forums and with their players. Weekly Streams were only the beginning as they were often posting in response to one player or another at all times of the day. They also friended players whom they interacted with and not just offered token responses of "we hear you and are listening." They actually listened to the concerns of their consumers/fans/players because you could tell they took a lot of pride in what they produced. The result of that relationship is Dragon Age: Inquisition which in reality has rejuvenated that franchise. One familiar with the time I am referring to is well aware that this latest game in that franchise uses a lot of elements that players stated they wanted, and the dev team implemented a lot of those because they listened. That interaction between the developers and the players fostered a mutual respect at a time when that franchise was at its lowest point. Now we cycle to the forums here and the current state of swtor. Whether the issue is the Raveger exploit, the slot machines, or the simple perception that the development teams cares little to nothing about the concerns of the player base, a divide is growing between the dev team and the players. All of the usage of the exploit, the outcries of the slot machines, even the plethora of posts that either refer to the devs as absent or liars all indicate a building frustration in the player base that must be addressed for the survival of this game. Lets be honest for a moment...if Star Wars was not attached to this game the passions of the players most likely would not be so severe and it would just have dwindled and ended in a quiet death. My biggest advice for the dev team and this community leadership is simply this...listen to these people pleading for your interaction. Take a cue from the Dragon Age team and build a bridge across the widening divide and show us the pride in your work that we hope is there. The perception is that you have no pride in this game...this product...this franchise. I do not believe this to be the case but the reality is the perception exists in a large portion of the player base and it is growing. The frustration level has boiled over already. What you have asked here about the streams is the first step, but more must be taken for the future of this game and its community. Nurture it....foster it...show us that you are listening and care about this community and take pride in the work you do. Meet us half way and you will get us back. Until you are wiling to do that...you will lose us...and I, for one, would hate to see that happen. I have been a fan of this almost 40 year old franchise since the age of 6 when the first movie came out in 1977. This game is a chance to see more of the lore from a time that I personally feel is more interesting than the timeline of the movies. I am posting because I want to see more...experience more...and I think everyone posting here feels the same or they would have left already. Listen to us and this journey will continue for years to come. Thanks for your time.

The Rescue

Pursuing the Cult of Sith’ari

Revelations

A New Threat

Unanswered Questions

Search for the Wayward Daughter part 2

Search for the Wayward Daughter part 1

A New Home part 2

A New Home part 1 .

The Arrival part 2

The Arrival part 1

About a week ago I spoke with alaurin about a story I wrote and have had posted on fanfiction.net for the past couple of years. After those messages I have decided to also post that story over here. This is a crossover story of swotor and WoW centering on my sage, Daneel. This story spans a trilogy that is more about the blending of lores than a typical "who would win in a fight" plotline. I will be posting the books over the next few weeks and welcome any comments you may have. Hopefully by the end of this week I will have the first book, A Jedi in Azeroth, fully posted and then proceed with the 2nd, A Jedi in Azeroth: Legacies, and then lastly the 3rd, A Jedi in Azeroth: The Past Returns. Just a note...every ability used in the story has some basis in SW lore, Warcraft lore, or both. Some have become a little outdated since I first wrote the story as the lores have continued to expand and grow.

**Possible spoilers for those reading and have not played through the expansion or finished some of the lower level flashpoints.** For me the best thing is the story, it's the main reason I play this game. I am Revan fan ever since I was introduced to him in KOTOR 11 years ago. To see his story arc conclude and answer the question of what happened to him after the end of the Foundry was a very pleasing thing to see. I play this game for the stories, as my friends and guildies are aware, and seeing this from each class and the nuances that are specific to each class was incredible. The expac has a lot of bugs in gameplay, but personally I ignored most just to see how the story unfolded. I love the attention to the details in the environment. On Rishi, while many felt it more akin to Pirates of the Caribbean, I felt more like I was playing through a backwater world from Firefly. (The reference to the Reavers from that series drew me into this comparison and kept me hooked...if only Mal or some of the Serenity crew were there somewhere, but I imagine licensing was a big part of that) But the biggest was that entrance to Yavin 4. First seeing the old space station still in orbit from KOTOR to the iconic scene of the temples from the very first movie. (Yes, I am old enough that I saw Star Wars...A New Hope to the younger folks...when I was 6 years old) The Massassi milling around and seeing them for the first time aside from their representation from the printed page, the newest patch that includes the ghosts of Naga Sadow, Marka Ragnos, Tulak Hord, and Exar Kun...these are the details I hoped to see and was not disappointed. The gameplay developers still have a lot of work ahead of them in fixing the gameplay problems that still persist, but the writers have done an excellent job in keeping me in this game. Their expansion of the lore, whether it's canon or not, is why I play this game. It's to them I offer the most kudos to for a superb job.

To reply to the OP, many players have different reasons for why they play any game. I've taught hunter safety for the past 24 years and in my experience there are certain types of hunters. Gamers also pretty much mirror these types so I will use the analogy to help explain and maybe answer your question. There are hunters who simply like the aspect of hunting. They are out with their friends or family and they don't care if they see anything or kill an animal, they simply like the social aspect of it. MMO's offer gamers with similar desires the same outlet. Some come into the game to interact with friends or family regardless of the storyline or the activity, it's the social outlet they are enjoying. Some hunters simply enjoy the hunt itself. Alone or with a group it is the hunt itself they are focused on, stalking their prey whether they make the kill or not. I have known hunters who use non-lethal means to hunt animals because they simply want the "thrill of the hunt." For gamers these are players who are playing because of the journey. They like the story or plot and take great measure in seeing everything. It's not the end that fascinates them but what happens to get to the ending. (I mostly fit into this...I am an admitted lore junkie) Some hunters are out for the kill and as many varieties of animals as they can. They don't care if the animal is trophy class or just barely legal, they are out for that prestige of bagging and tagging the animal. This type of gamer would be your achievement hounds or progress to get as many titles as they can. Often they run a story once and then never run it again because they have seen what they want to and move on to the next thing. The last type of hunter are those who hunt solely to kill a trophy class animal. They will often pass on smaller game because they feel it's not prestigious enough or worthy of their effort. In gaming, it's not about story or the characters, it's about gaining rewards. Many raiders running ops for gear might also fit into this category. Story or plot doesn't matter so they often "power level" to reach the highest as quickly as possible so they can run the endgame content that provides (often) the greatest rewards. None of these are the right way and none are wrong, they are just examples of the motivations for people to play a game. If we all played for the same reasons that might actually prove a little boring, and for a lot of gamers they fit into several categories, not just one. Anyway, I hope this answers the OP's question.

About 40 pages back or so I joked that this whole drama was like the Jerry Springer show and kinda still is. To be serious, both sides of this debate have merit. Both sides are right and also wrong. Was the xpac faulty? Yes Was using the exploit a form of cheating? From some perspectives it was. Has the exploit been used by a larger than normal amount of players? Absolutely or this whole debate would never have happened to this extent. Some have used actions of other MMO's as a reference on how to handle this situation, but forget the very large elephant in the room. Blizzard owns Warcraft. Bethesda owns Elder Scrolls. Bioware does not own Star Wars. The people who do own Star Wars are releasing a movie this year that in all likelihood will generate more revenue for them than this game in it's entirety, and whether directly or indirectly their interests must be taken into account. If they feel that the decisions made now regarding a section of their hardcore fanbase (if you play this game then in public opinion you are a hardcore SW fan) creates a negative impact on their franchise then they are well within their right to pull the plug at any time. I would not want to be in BW's shoes atm. Their opinion will matter more than any of ours regarding what comes next. Both the players and BW are at fault in this situation. BW for allowing the said exploit to exist upon release and the players who performed their own version of a consumer rebellion by using the exploit. The mentality being "all these bugs and lag issues hinder my enjoyment, lost credits from training, so why not use the one bug that gives me something?" Whether that mentality was right or wrong at present is moot, it exists and that is at the heart of the issue and has created the divide amongst the player base. That being said, the best solution I can figure to mitigate losses for BW, the game itself, and the playerbase (this is a no-win situation no matter what decision is made) is to withhold the complimentary Cartel Coins awarded each month to those who used the exploit for the next month or two. This would serve as a punishment for those who feel punishment is deserved and also can appease those who used the exploit feeling they were given a faulty product after paying real money for the game and their subscription. In any case I am sure this will be seen as ludicrous to some and let the attacks begin. Either way I have added my two cents in a serious form and offered a solution that could appease both sides.

Dear Bioware, Please refrain from issuing any possible punishments for the next 6 to 7 weeks...or whenever March Madness starts. This thread and the several like it (I've lost count how many) have been highly entertaining. I mean...this has been more fun to watch than the Ohio State vs. Oregon game and these folks aren't even playing for a national championship. Perusing through these threads is like watching old Jerry Springer shows. In fact I could swear I hear the chanting of "Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!" in the background. There hasn't been a fist fight yet, but I suspect one is close, and I'm pretty certain I've seen a few people foaming at the mouth. Political debates between Republicans and Democrats aren't this vicious, so the entertainment value has been great. Thanks, An Entertained Spectator.

alaurin, a question since I don't know where else to ask. I just started perusing the forums lately and found this section I was totally unaware of and have to give kudos to you and the community for sharing their works. I have a crossover I have written of swtor and warcraft that I have posted on fanfiction,net. After reading the guidelines here I am certain it's much too large to share here. (300K words spanning 3 installments and currently working on a 4th that at present is 70K words and still in progress) I would happily share this with this community if they are so inclined to read it, and I am bringing this to your attention for perhaps some guidance on how to do so. The main character is my sage that finds himself on Azeroth and the 3 books explores his journey on a world far from his home galaxy. All of my swtor toons I play are either characters that appear in the story (another sage, a smuggler, and a knight all arrive on Azeroth at the end of book 2 and continue to the end of the main trilogy in book 3 plus a faction of sith that comes from the time of the Great Hyperspace War era) or are equivalents of their warcraft counterparts. Thank you for your time and consideration, and to the rest of the writers here I wish continued success and look forward to now begin reading some of the works posted in this forum.

Interesting, had not seen this thread before, and thought I would share a character of mine that started as a joke and is now one of my main Imp toons, Twenty'twenty, the Miraluka sniper. http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2014/349/9/c/miraluka_sniper_2_by_ragingcyc0ne-d89yloh.jpg