If there was a queue for no gunships and a queue with gunships (which, of course, will NEVER happen) then I think seeing a scout or a strike in the gunship queue would be as rare as a white elephant. I would LOVE to play GSF with no gunships and no bombers. I've queued for GSF maybe 3 or 4 times since bombers went live. I hated having gunships enough, bombers finished it for me. I queued a TON when GSF first came out, but I like dogfighting and hate dealing with the sniper style player, so I don't queue anymore. I cannot speak to hard data, only to anecdotal stories. But many players I have played with tried GSF, got blown up repeatedly by snipers, and quit before they could ever get good. The complete lack of matchmaking also pushes many out, IMO. I've also known many that queued a few times, got absolutely slaughtered repeatedly by a vastly superior team, and don't queue again. GSF has a STEEP learning curve, and the lack of matchmaking combined with experienced players relentlessly farming new players leads to extremely high barriers to entry.

Great idea. I'd love to see this.

100% disagree. I was very wary about this system when I first read about it. What I've seen so far I think might work very well. I won't say for sure whether I will like or dislike it until I've seen the finished product, but I can say that what I've seen so far has been pretty good. So I'm optimistic, but like many here don't want to say I love or hate it until I've had a chance to actually use it. And there is a 0% chance they are going to remove this from the expansion. That absolutely is not going to happen.

I completely disagree here. I, too, love the buff. Personally, I would absolutely not turn off the buff if I could. But I know people that absolutely would turn it off immediately if they could. There are a lot of players that really love the story progression and like running all the missions on the planets. It's not my cup of tea: I prefer to level fast, enjoy the class story since I've already done all the side missions, then do endgame stuff. That's my preference: I love running ops, FPs (tactical and HM), events, etc. But there are a lot of players that absolutely do not like running endgame: they enjoy the leveling process and as soon as they hit level 55 they are done with that character. I don't think the number turning it off would be very large (that's really based on perception, not fact, I have no evidence to prove that statement) BUT those that would turn it off find this to be a very significant negative impact to their chosen playstyle.

OP, I would LOVE to see a new race before the launch of 3.0. But given that they've made absolutely no official announcement to that effect I would have to say there's no chance it's going to happen. These types of things are usually announced WELL in advance, so if there was going to be a new race in or before 3.0 we'd almost certainly have been told so already. Of course, it they were to surprise the players with a new race, that would be awesome. And I think the players would respond VERY positively to that. But there's a lot of content coming, so I'd be (pleasantly) astounded were that to happen. Short answer: not a chance.

I too am loving this perk. Had a tremendous amount of fun with it this weekend. This perk alone was worth the cost of the pre-order to me. HOWEVER. I must agree with my fellow players that wish there was a way to turn it off or otherwise opt out. Yes, they could have waited until the last possible moment to pre-order so as to avoid the bonus but workarounds are never as clean as an actual solution. There simply will be people that pre-order as soon as they see it is available. Maybe they really enjoy the game and are eager to support it. So they order as soon as it becomes available, without necessarily reading all of the fine print. Are we going to then trash people who pre-ordered not realizing that turning this off was an option? I think it's a GREAT perk and have really enjoyed it. I look forward to having it until launch. And even if there was a toggle to turn it off, I am just about 100% sure I wouldn't use it on a single one of my characters. But I'd very much like to see it as an option for those that really don't want it.

I never said which number was greater, though in all fairness I think I did imply that the number liking it was greater. So I'll grant you that and say that I think it is safe to say many people do in fact really like it. How many, whether more dislike it than like it, I can't say. I can say that I love it, and the people I play with all love it with almost no exceptions. But that sample size is not statistically significant. I'll also agree with you there. If there was a way to disable this perk for those that don't like it, then that would be ideal. As of now there is a workaround: don't pre-order until the latest possible date. But I certainly see where that would be annoying to those that don't want this perk. On the whole I agree that an opt-out option would have been a great idea and it is unfortunate there isn't one. My main point is that saying "this isn't a cool option for subscribers" isn't correct. It is very cool for many. I would not agree that it is cool for all.

Yes, because $10 is not a lot of money. That's not me saying I'm rich (I certainly am not) but it ain't much. It's less than the cost of a movie ticket for a LOT more entertainment. And for me, it's not skipping the part of the game I like. I like class stories, ops, and HM FPs. I've done all of the side quests many many times, they are my least favorite part of the game. There's waaaaaaaay more content in the game than the side quests. I don't have time to do EVERYTHING, so getting to skip the part I don't like is a huge bonus to me. And to many others. Do you really fail to understand that different people like different things? Your responses are...bizarre. Like you cannot fathom that $10 isn't a lot of money to many, many people and that different people might like different things than you. I'm not saying you're wrong to not like this bonus. You aren't wrong at all--it isn't something you'll see any benefit from. But this little tantrum of a thread seem to make the point that because it isn't a good perk for you then it isn't good for anyone. Doesn't that say something important to you?

Incorrect. What you mean is better for you. For myself, and for many other players (though certainly not all), this is a great bonus. And I would rather have this bonus than any or ALL of the things you mentioned. Personal tastes and preferences. They never said "A cool thing for subscribers that 100% of subscribers will be happy with." It is very clear that many, many players are loving this perk. It is also clear that there are definitely some that do not. But it would be 100% impossible for them to have given ANYTHING that 100% of players would have found to be a cool thing. Because I've read every suggestion you've made in this thread, and there isn't a single one if them I'd rather have than this bonus. It's silly to say this isn't a cool thing--it makes more sense to say it's a thing that doesn't appeal to you. Because in your list above, not a single one of those things would have made me pre-order as fast as the 12k xp did, and I've been playing since launch.

Hilariously, this statue is the exact opposite of P2W. It's a 100% cosmetic item that provides absolutely no advantage to gameplay whatsoever.

I would rather have the class mission bonus for one weekend than have another pet I'll never use or another speeder I don't need because I have a ton already. Tastes and preferences. In my opinion (and I believe in the opinion of many others) this XP boost is far, FAR cooler than a speeder or pet.

Yep, it's not a perk that everyone would like, but I think it is safe to say that it is a perk that MANY will be very pleased with. I certainly can say it is for me. I plan to see the last couple stories I never finished, and re-do the ones I really enjoyed. If there intention with this was to encourage pre-ordering for this perk, it absolutely worked on me. I pre-ordered the moment I saw and read the announcement. So I can see where some might not like it, but to say it's not a cool thing for subscribers just because you don't like it isn't really accurate. There can be no doubt that this perk was considered a huge plus for many, many people. I've been wanting something like this for a long time, and I think a lot of others have as well.

This is a good point. I'm wary about the class changes, yes: but until I've seen them I won't say if they're good or bad. I can say that the way it is described in the developer blog looks good. And if the end result is something like what I'm inferring when I read it I'll be happy. But I definitely agree with your point: no need to be angry until we've seen the actual system. I'm wary of it, but very willing to be pleasantly surprised.

Are you referring to LOTRO's class changes since their last expansion pack in late 2013? If so I will have to respectfully but vehemently disagree with you, and my experience in LOTRO is the only reason I am wary of these class changes. It most certainly did not work out for LOTRO: the system in its implementation saw a huge reduction in the number of skills available, and massively dumbed down play. There was definitely a problem with skill bloat in LOTRO, but they used a cleaver instead of a scalpel. Characters lost TONS of skills, and the number of things you could do was hugely reduced. And the result was not good at all for LOTRO. Shortly after the expansion they had huge layoffs. Content release slowed down. There has been no mention of another expansion. Many are now complaining of dead servers. In my personal experience, the guild I had been in since 2007, with almost the same leadership since launch, left LOTRO. Granted, the skill revamp was not the only thing: there were other significant factors, such as the fact that they released no new instances or raids at the new level cap. But the class changes were not popular, and I really don't think anyone would have considered them a success. My experience in LOTRO is the only reason I'm really wary of this change. If it truly means we can pick and choose more but still have the same amount of skills then I'll be happy. If it means that now I have 50-75% fewer skills on my hotbar, I will not be happy at all. I just don't want the ESO experience. I loved that game, the story, the look, the classes. But only having 5 skill hotbar killed it for me. Made it soooooo boring.

Yes, I have read many, many posts from WildStar players saying how great their devs are at listening to them. /rolls eyes WildStar is not a failure, it's just absolutely never going to be as popular as it's adherents think it will be. Neither will EQNext. Neither was SWTOR. I remember before launch how many players swore that SWTOR was going to be the best, was going to crush every other MMOs. And surprise surprise, it didn't. I really like SWTOR. It isn't perfect, and I've taken breaks from it. There are things about it that have frustrated me a lot. But I keep coming back, and likely will keep coming back. And not because its Star Wars. I don't particularly like or dislike Star Wars. I've seen the movies a few times. I read one trilogy of books. I didn't start playing SWTOR because of Star Wars, I started because my brother (who also doesn't like Star Wars) wanted to play and I wanted to game with him. So I bought it and I think it's great. I've read a LOT about SWG pre- and post-NGE and it sounds like something I absolutely would have hated. Does that mean it was bad? Nope, just didn't appeal to me (or many other players for that matter, ZING!) As for the constant "People would play SWTOR if it wasn't Star Wars!" I ask this: SO WHAT?! It IS Start Wars. Saying "if it wasn't Star Wars..." is meaningless because that is part of what people like. So it's part of the game, and part of the enjoyment.

Why don't more people understand the above? If you finish top 10 you get the guild rewards. Small guilds aren't going to compete with the bigger guilds. Just like casual guilds aren't going to compete with hardcore raiders for server firsts in ops. Or take for example the title you can get for defeating the Hateful Entity in NiM Scum and Villainy. That title has only been achieved by certain players. I am not one of them. I certainly don't begrudge them that: they beat the op, I didn't. I certainly can TRY to beat the op. That is an option available to me. So as far as I see it, it's fair. All you get for #1 is a title. Apart from that, and bragging rights, #1 gets the same stuff as #10. I fail to see the problem.

This is a great suggestion. I'd love to see this.

Isn't that just sort of...stupid? How about this: instead of worthless stats, just useful stats but with smaller numbers. It would feel so much less frustrating for so many players. +50 defense for 168 gear, +75 for 180 comm gear, +100 for raid drops. Simple. A clear advantage to raid gear (as it should be) and less frustrating than being stuck with worthless stats. And why is it only tanks that are punished in this way? My healer never has to deal with getting accuracy on items; I always get something that is somewhat useful, be it power, crit, surge, or alacrity. I might not get exactly what I want: I might get more alacrity when I want power. And with some effort I can get that power by working on optimizing my itemization. But in the interim, having the alacrity isn't worthless for my healer. So every other role gets a mish mash of things that may not be optimal, they are not useless.

Then how do you explain NON-moddable gear having worthless stats? What do I do with the worthless stats on earpieces and implants?

I can almost forgive the insufferable time sink of putting alacrity and accuracy on moddable tank gear. But you also get it on comm gear that is NOT moddable like earpieces and implants. That is absolutely infuriating. And it is far worse on tanks: I've geared heals, DPS, and tanks and far and away the most frustrating is gearing a tank. In no small part because even the non-moddable gear is full of worthless stuff for tanks. A DPS might not want surge, but at least it has some value. When gearing my tank, I come across piece after piece with alacrity, which has zero value for a tank. I absolutely believe it contributes to a lack of tanks because it is just too frustrating to deal with gearing. The entire process not only takes significantly more time and effort than other roles, but it also requires spending more time just planning and researching. I don't have unlimited time to play: I have a wife and a job. I have NO problem earning my gear and I like doing so. I like running FPs and ops. I do not want the gear handed to me, but I don't want to spend my time researching this, Googling that, trying to determine which piece I should buy to rip the mods to replace the worthless junk in another piece. For example, get piece X so you can take the mod for piece Y and the enhancement for piece Z. Plan carefully so you waste the fewest possible comms! It's annoying as all get out. So I have one tank. I have other toons that can tank but don't gear them because what's the point? I've got a single OK geared tank for ops and to help guildies, I'm not going through all that nonsense again. Otherwise I might work on another tank alt, and there'd be another tank queuing. But as long as the ultimate comm implants have worthless stats I'm not going to do it. I have the time to play, I don't have the time to play AND spend time researching how to waste the least amount of comms gearing a tank when I can just play DPS or heals. It still takes time and effort but I get to play SWTOR instead of playing Star Wars: The Republic Archives of Gear Research.

Don't know why so many folks are bashing the OP. He has some valid complaints and made constructive and specific criticisms of the game. Attacking his opinions is silly: he has things he doesn't like about the way the game works. You're not going to convince him he's wrong in his opinion and if you disagree he's not going to change your opinion. Personally I disagree with some of the OPs opinions but not because he's wrong: it's because I enjoy things differently and in a different way. I don't mind the hook system but I don't care much about housing in the first place, it's just a place to put my legacy storage as far as I'm concerned and it's full of junk so I can get a conquest bonus. I do agree that the random crafting missions is annoying. It's not a deal breaker for me but I definitely agree its annoying. OP, I would suggest you state your opinions on the reasons for quitting thread others have linked here: I imagine it would be more likely to be seen by developers posted there.

Yes, it's advantage is growing. It's always considered super healthy when a game merges servers 3 months after launch. That's what everyone said about SWTOR when it merged servers: the game must be doing better than expected! Good news! I'm not saying WildStar is a bad game--I have no idea if it is or not as I've not played it. And if you dig it that's awesome for you, most MMOs are taste and preference based: what player X thinks is awesome player Y thinks is boring. Me, I've played lots of the MMOs in release. Some I liked, some I didn't much like. None have made me come back again and again like SWTOR has--I've been playing on and off since launch, mostly on. Does that mean SWTOR is objectively the best MMO out there? Nope, it just means that it's the best for me personally. And for a lot of other folks. And not at all for lots of other folks. Your "quantifying" of the two games against one another in the OP is silly and pointless if the attempt is to show that WildStar is empirically better. Subjectively I'm sure it's correct for you, which is great. I'm glad you dig it. However, the server mergers 3 months after launch pretty much show that your numbers might make sense for you, but they do not at all for a lot of other players. In particular, for a very large percentage of the people that bought the game in the first place.

I have to agree that the players opinion on what an expansion is doesn't really matter, nor does the version number really matter. I think MMO gamers also need to get out of the mindset of an expansion being something that comes in a box and has a ton of content. That is a dated way of thinking, as is the idea that F2P means a game has failed. The realities of the gaming world are drastically different than they were years ago. The increase in options and choices players have means MMO players are much more fickle and mobile and simply aren't going to wait 2+ years for a massive content dump. It makes much more sense to parcel it out to keep them interested and subbing. If it helps to think of them as "mini expansions" then I suppose that's fine, but an expansion is whatever the developers call it. And I think the days of MMOs releasing massive expansions is over--there's too much competition in MMO gaming and no game big enough (except WoW, obviously) where a major company is going to invest huge amounts of money into massive expansions on a game that has 500k players. I'd LOVE to see a massive SWTOR expansion, but I don't think it's going to happen.

Ummm...why would they "unload" their items on the GTN if they are all quitting? If you're selling on the GTN, you're doing so to earn credits. You earn credits because you want something in the game because you want to play the game. I've stopped playing several MMOs over the years, never once have I thought "You know what, I hate this game and don't want to play anymore. Better prepare not to play anymore by clearing out the ol' inventory and making some money." EDIT: Just saw the spolier, consider me trolled.

I don't PvP at all. I didn't really want housing at all. For my personal tastes and preferences, it was something I thought was something of a waste. I decided that it was a good idea because there clearly were (and are) a lot of players in the game that wanted housing. Just because I personally don't really want a particular type of content doesn't mean it has no value. For example, I've never done a single warzone despite having played SWTOR since launch, and never participate in any form of open world PvP whatsoever. When events have certain portions that take place in "forced" PvP areas I don't do that part of the event. Does that mean that adding new PvP content is a waste? That no one likes it? And you know what, the housing system did introduce SO much more than just housing. My guild had a great time in the first week of guild conquests and it fostered a real sense of community. So overall, I ended up loving this new content, even though I was in no way looking forward to it.