I saw a vid where someone went into the xml and made the UI with a wookie skin. Can that sort of thing actually be done? like can you edit the xml files, or just move and resize UI elements? Also, thankyou very much for the site

They only raised them by 200 bringing them up to just over 1200. In most other games that would be a low-pop dead server

If they do anything I hope they raise the server caps so at least one server can play like a Massively Multi-player Online game.

While I actually agree with what you seem to be saying, I'm not sure how to take this. It kind of reads like "wow had this, this and this and I did it but I don't want it in SWTOR", then kind of reads like you don't like anything, but are you saying there should be a lot to do that's different to wow? If that's it, I get your point, like there is so much potential for things to do that haven't been done before in an MMO which actually fit in with Star Wars and make it so that there's always something to do, and on that front I think you're right. It seems that the devs did approach SWTOR with a very narrow view of what an MMORPG is and how you could play them, and sadly they adopted a model which other games are moving away from. In that sense, I completely get what you mean - I played SWTOR and it seems like I'm being told "you know all that stuff you did in WOW, now come and do it all over again in SWTOR (because that's what an MMO is) and please don't expect anything to be different, and while you're there, everything you noticed about other games which worked, please don't expect that in SWTOR". The Pokemon thing? I kind of didn't think anything of it, but in a World of WARcraft even our oh-so-cute vanity cosmetic pets will fight. That's pretty cool.

Well, they did approach some magazine editors bragging about a dev team of 600-700 and used that as a marketing hype thing, but if you've seen other numbers it might have just been hype and not really real.

What are these time constraints you speak of? The only one I can think of was EA pushing for an early release, but they were working on it for 5 years at least prior to launch - which is in line with other games (or longer). Size of their staff? Considering it's 3 times as large as other dev teams, maybe that's the problem - too many people and too many problems arising as a result. Unfortunately, many people on the dev team were from Age of Conan and Dragon Age, and it seems very few are Bioware staff. I believe rather than running courses to train undergraduate students to help make the game, they should have spent that time and money actually working on the game. They did choose to outsource CS, which is something which 100% should not have been done. When problems arose in beta they did not hold back the launch to rectify and solve them - they actively chose to ignore them and push through with launch - and then expressed shock at the amount of time people had for the game, and then expressed shock at exit numbers (people leaving the game). Rather than building an engine from the ground up, they DID choose to use heroengine before it was finished. It would have been far more efficient to use that time designing the game prior to an engine being completed. The only time constraints were those which arose from actively promoting the game as soon as (or before) they had started creating it, thus building the suspense and excitement. That meant that any delay along the way would all have been well-known and they were in a race against time with the general public's anticipation, each and every step of the way of the game's development. They did not give themselves the time they needed to polish and refine and make improvements as they saw the needs arise. Apparently during the last 6 months of development a lot of time was spent going through and deleting features, rather than actually racing to complete the game and make the necessary adjustments to ensure they would all be ready. When they say they deliberately removed content from the game and CHOSE to add it in later specifically as a "marketing strategy", well, that's mind-boggling to say the least and isn't showing players any respect whatsoever. All of the above make it tragic - the game is pretty good in a lot of ways, but the oversights and flaws are too glaring and detract from what is good. Also, wow's dev team is about 250 people total. The rest are customer service and etc. Only 250 people actually work on the game and design the game and create it.

Exactly. Making it so you have to join a guild to do basic group content is a little ridiculous. They'll recruit the people they want, gear them up and after that won't be interested in other people. For a reason I can fully understand - it means having to get the guild together and gear up people right back from level 50 normal flashpoints. For this reason, locking people into guilds rather than game designs to help players come together has never, ever worked. The only people happy are people who were people who a guild was happy to gear up etc and aren't looking to change guilds. Sorry, but a flashpoint isn't something that a guild should be scheduling and organizing. It should be something to do when you log in without having to wait hours and go through a lot of hassle. As for server mergers? Of course they need to happen. But that won't be as successful as both server mergers and cross-realm flashpoints. Group content out in the world? For lower levels there isn't really a solution. It's a downside to the MMORPG levelling system. For flashpoints being cross-realm, it would be successful, but group content in the world? No. Encouraging people to roll alts is the closest thing to a solution there is. For group level 50 dailies? The game has provided incentives to do them and earn the credits. But the realm populations are low enough so you can't almost guarantee you'll find someone looking to do them too.

So why are they calling SWTOR an MMO? I'm not saying 10's of thousands is a reasonable goal, but at least 2-3000 upwards is respectable. The world they've created is big. And population density is, well, sparse doesn't begin to define it. People are talking about server populations like they're talking about guild populations. They all stay in the hundreds. Talk all you want, but the numbers were never so huge when people played less or not everyone stuck with the game etc it might LOOK like a dent on overall numbers, but it makes servers look empty. Or close to it, anyway. Do any other game servers support so few people? Sorry, but I can't get over this yet

asking people to do something they didn't flag as looking for is not community building. Spamming is not community building. If anything it's getting you a reputation of someone that's an inconsiderate harrasser, or too nosey if they feel obligated to explain why they said no. So what if people see me spamming all the time and people start to get to know my name? That's not making friends, that's putting yourself on the line in ways which could be good or could be very horrible. I know when everyone's doing it it'll most likely mean nothing, but it takes so much fighting of self-conscious tendencies to do it. If I wanted to bring so much attention to myself I'd do it in other ways. But I'm not. All I'm trying to do play the game. It's all very well and good to say that running the flashpoint is community building, because it is. When it comes to a community I'd be part of (which I came to be part of organically and through playing rather than making out like a salesman or a telemarketer), I don't care if they're from the same server or not. I'm interested in the SWTOR community interested in flashpoints. The thought of having friends on my friends list simply because they're a tank makes my stomach churn. I'd love to be able to play with people I meet on my server. But the way it is, unless you can completely fill the group with all roles on your own the run won't happen. The days of "Do you know someone that can tank or heal this" should be well over for entry-level group PVE end-game. It's entry level, and entry level only. Blocking it off to people simply trying to enter who have not yet experienced it is a silly design. There's nothing worse than needing 1 dps to fill a group and not getting one, no matter how long you wait before the group starts falling apart. And knowing that somewhere on planet Earth, someone playing a dps most probably wants to do the flashpoint, but is on a different server and therefore cut off. Catch 22 - can't do content coz don't have the social contacts. Can't make the social contacts coz you can't do the content and get the gear/experience. Something needs to break that cycle. And here's a hint - you can't force people to make friends with people they don't want to.

why are the server caps set so low anyone would ever have to face a 6 hour log-in queue?

This is why I think it'll be interesting to see what happens if these guilds killing bosses who oppose combat logs and meters start falling apart, if they'll start requesting ingame combat logs and meters etc. Of course not all will, and there will be some guilds that stay together for as long as the game lasts, though. But I don't think they all will. Or also, what happens if the content starts getting harder? How long can they hold this stance "friends and fun above performance - but as long as we're getting the results and hopefully not too many other people are"?

That doesn't sound too random to me. unless loser gets a roll bonus so you basically take turns winning?

Brilliant and yes.

oh ok. i though that would have worked for sure

Make a toon on the Moonguard server

yet study after study shows that gamers are far more coordinated than other people. And most crashes happen when you get distracted (bigger killer than drugs/drink driving, actually) and neurological studies have actually shown that people who play games tend to begin developing neural differences similar to fighter pilots. And secondly, you mess up in a game, so you end up in a mob and die/kill a mob you didn't plan to, or drive into some walls and don't go anywhere until you learn... bit different to real life car accidents

Seems they were very sociable together to eachother if those movies were accurate. Although I do see some hints that it was fairly abusive, although how overt I'm not sure. Interview with his "family members" kind of smack like it was a paradise. They just hated a lot of people together

Very much so. It's kind of strange, the game make-up. When you're generally levelling and playing the bulk of the game, being grouped puts you at a disadvantage. If you play with someone that rolled the same class as you, one of you will be forever waiting for the other person. But when you need people for group content and you need it now, often you have to skip them, or have someone on demand. Don't get me wrong, most of the groups I've had have been brilliant, but it has been a long time since I was in a group that actually got anything done. I've been in a group for heroic missions which were in areas I hadn't unlocked, so they found someone to replace me when I was on my way there, but by the time I'd explored the areas, unlocked transports, picked up the missions, there's not too many people on the planet, let alone lfg. And the reality is that a lot of the heroic missions as well as fp's/ops DO require someone to be a tank and healer. So to get the most out of the game while levelling up as well as end-game you need a group of friends where you have a tank/healer and dps. If I'm in a group (especially when it's only me and them for 2 person content), if they don't talk I don't get upset - not everyone speaks English let alone as a first language. But when the community as a whole is silent, it's a little off-putting. Fleet is not filled with spam from guilds looking to recruit. It's like the game is filled with people who don't like the game, they don't enjoy it, not playing for fun and aren't in the mood to talk. Honestly, don't let a few a-holes put you off. Bad players? Unless people start getting a lot more chatty and sociable in general, there is no hope of them improving. Interest in the game, mechanics, gameplay (like talents and abilities etc) and fun are contagious. But so is boredom, apathy and negativity.

They can't seriously think we're all THIS uncoordinated

Do the devs not play beta and talk to players in-game and play with people if it's necessary to see first-hand the issues?

It's an MMORPG. It brings an aspect of reality into the game. In SWTOR it seems anything like this is pretty few and far between. Saying you hate waiting for elevators, but if there are some that seem to take too long, that's a different matter.

What do I think? Neutral. Not opposed, can see an up-side but I'm not going to push the issue. They really would need global chat channels, porting abilities etc for it to work. And in order to not hurt the experience for players in the area at that time the invasions would need to be contained to a particular area. My understanding is the Rift invasion happens depending on how many players are on, in the area and appropriate level, is that right? In all honesty, I'm at the point of thinking ANYTHING they can do to get players together is a good thing, but that doesn't mean the devs should and just go with anything willy-nilly. And a dynamic world? Makes sense. Story-wise, it does make sense. We are at war, but so far an unofficial one, but it is still war. BUT, I kind of see it now - 2 months after they are implemented, the novelty has worn off and an invasion is announced. I don't think too many people would care, and drop everything they're doing and go running. As big events, like once a month running for a few days, or something like that, or every couple of months running for a week at a time? I can definitely see that being a good thing.

For things like paid server transfers which are optional and not in line with recommended ones to balance server populations etc, I did and still do, but I would hope they can do it for free, but restrict how many you can have. A SHOP where you buy things like toys, other Bioware games and merchandise like souveniers etc, I can definitely see that. Anything that gives an advantage in-game? I hope not. Remember, after Blizzard Store introduced the first in-game mount, mounts still cost a fair bit of gold. So they had to drop the cost of mounts from vendors to pretty much free (like 8 gold for the first mounts) to take away the advantage it gave. Microtransactions like EQ? Oh I hope not. That's one of the biggest reasons that game failed. Free? Of course. But, a bag will cost. That pretty race? That will cost. And while you're there, buy some vouchers/whatever it was, those gold token things - coz you'll never know when you'll need them. People hated that they never knew up-front how much the game would cost. BF is up for consideration for microtransactions. $1 to reload is a good idea, it's not gouging, it's charging according to EA. I hope Bioware has some very strong and effective business/lawyer type people to deal with EA.

That would be very nice and convenient, and would save a fair bit of logging out and in again

They fight everything I just don't get it a all. I didn't like being told that it was important to demonstrate that I grasped the basics of being social in a mission. That was rough. THEN I found out that the group quests on the planet? They don't even HAVE conversations. So you can't even get social points to do the mission SWTOR needs duelling. There's no way to learn about other classes etc other than to roll one yourself. It seems like no-one's really too interested in talking about their character and abilities etc and what you can do etc or gameplay. Yes, there should be an option to auto-decline or not to accept them, but if you meet someone and are talking to them and want to play around with them you should be able to. Instead of being limited to the oh so serious business of doing missions, levelling or spamming together. Also, the blindingly obvious - crafting. When creating new characters unlocks buffs and abilities etc if you create other characters, logic dictates that a lot of people will also use these characters for crafting and gathering materials, so there's no need for sociability on that front. And asking someone to make something for someone does mean waiting for the item to be crafted and mailed to you COD later. It can't be made on the spot and sold. That in itself limits a big chunk of sociability from the game. Fair enough gathering missions take time, but crafting items should not. But when everyone can have almost every crafting profession themselves, that severely limits the viability of crafting as a way of being sociable. No need to talk to other people, let alone chat and make friends.