but ALL that information is stored in server databases. You are the ignorant one my friend. All online games are database driven, it is just the complexity of databases that varies. Anyone who knows anything about the technical aspect of mmo's know this.

They have known for long enough that they were going to be adding Oceanic servers. The decision to allow transfering of characters was not a last minute one. There was more then enough time. The actual process is just database migration. If database creation and usage is efficient, then the task of transfering from 1 server to another is actually very simple. Not instant, but simple.

You are not the only one on these forums who has knowledge and/or experience with software coding. As someone who claims to you should know that game type and genre have little impact, ultimately on game engine. Yes, its a trite example, but look at the Unreal 3 engine. You claim there is a difference; but there is not. The differences come in how easy the engine is to develop with, how difficult it is to modify, and the technical specifications of what it can do, such as incorporation of physx/havoc. Unreal Engine 3 has been used in development of titles such as: DC Universe (MMO) Tron: Evolution (Action/Adventure) TS Online (MMO) Tom Clancy's End War (RTS with MMO features) TERA (MMO) Stargate Resistance (Shooter) Red Orchestra 2 (Realism WW2 Shooter) Mortal Kombat (Fighter) Mass Effect 1, 2, 3 (RPG with shooter elements, Shooter with rpg elements, shooter/rpg) DUST 514 (Shooter with integration into EVE Online database, directly impacting the EVE Online world) Dungeon Defenders (tower defence) Bulletstorm (Action) Army of Two (co-op shooter) Alpha Protocol (Stealth Action) APB Reloaded (MMO) Aliens: Colonial Marines (I am unsure of this one, likely shooter with multiplayer elements) See the point? If not, then might I also point out Dead Space which was turned into a browser based game requiring high speed internet to play, seeing as it is the entire game in the entirity of its graphics. Now, the EVE developers have shown us that with proper netcode (which TOR seems to lack) all the client does is interact with the server databases, then render those changes in a graphical display for the client. As such, if one has client side assets in a format that is usable by more then one client, modifying one engine to make the neccessary calls and translate those calls and the responses it sees as appropriate, you could have both a hero engine client for those with low end machines and an unreal/dragon age client for those with high end machines. As most, if not all, clients optimised for windows use some form of the .x format, it should not be difficult.

And I believe you are an ***, but that does not make it so. I was not mistaking customer service REPRESENTATIVES for video game developers. The CSR people are responsible for answering many questions, such as the ones I asked. I posted in general because I am sharing the experience, not to seek a response from the devs who, so far as I am concerned, can go do you know what with themselves for dropping the ball, yet again.

So... more then 6 years and $200 million? Erm... they had several engines. They could have used the NWN2 engine, dated but much better appearances and performances then bioware's modified hero engine. They could have used the Dragon Age 1/2 engine. Perfectly capable of it. Hell, they could EASILY take the DA engine and mod it as a front end for hero engine, problem solved. Would take... 6 months of work? maybe dedicated. Would be worth it. Press release: we are modifying the dragon age engine to function as a front end for the game. This will see massive graphical improvements, addition of high res and super high res textures, community modifiable user interface, and much greater performance and stability. Watch the subscriptions remain, and even gain more (if not immediately, upon release of the new front end)

So I ticketed Bioware to ask the CSR about transfers: namely why they are in April instead of now, what happens to legacy stuff, for instance your legacy name and xp totals, if come april we transfer characters to the same server where we already have a legacy name and xp total. I also asked about free name changes and legacy name changes as there will be many who picked the name they have because others were taken. I know I was one of them. The CSR deleted my ticket without mail, warning, or explination. I didnt even get the green mail icon which has happened in the past. Just gone. I will submitting another ticket. will update this with exactly what I get, the time I submit (in Sydney time), the date, and any responses I get.

It does not have heavy requirements, unless you consider the 9800gt, a slightly updated 8800gt, which is a slightly updated 8800, which is... 10 years old? 7 years old or so, basically the very first dx10 card (9800gt) if memory serves, heavy requirements. My mate had 2gb of ram and a i5-750 with 9800gt and had no issue with any UE3 game, mmo or otherwise.

They have, somewhere. Javascrpt, if memory serves

Bioware. Thats who. Patch notes on test server NEW ULTRA LOW SHADER SETTING

Slight problem: At least based solely on looks: Both CryEngine3 and the most recent Frostbite eat UE3 for breakfast in terms of graphical looks. Both are considerably less stable, however. The most recent frostbite handles physics far better then the stock UE3 does though, just look at Battlefield 3 and The Race in terms of the physics involved, but for the most part, and as a whole, yes, best engine around.

They have not been. They have said we are thinking of ways to fix things, but will not comment further. Basically: We do not know how to make the engine better, so please stop asking. Just give us more monies nao!

Bioware can't work in house to fix the graphical issues of the game. How could they work with a driver manufacturer? The problem is not with the drivers. I can play Skyrim and Battlfield 3 on max settings in surround vision; and my skyrim uses about 12gb worth of texture mods. The problem is that the engine is 5 years old. The modern hero engine handles things much better. It might not have great threaded support, but it has less memory leaks, and faster frame rates on threaded machines and multicore machines. Get a single core processor with 2gb of ram and a 8800gt and the game will be flawless, short of any network issues. Get anything more modern and it will eat itself. The client gets up to almost a full 2gb of ram usage on my system (24gb of ram, not an issue) when it shouldnt. Once or twice it jumped over 2gbs of ram and crashed. Furthermore, bioware's solution is to reduce graphical performance with lower res textures, reduced quality shaders, etc, etc. Does this sound like a company that will work with driver manufacturers to get better support? And for the guys who have posted on this topic saying that bioware does not care, they have made their money back: they have not. Hero dudes are taking at least 30% from ALL their money made, including boxed and digital sales.

Its also a fact that poorly coded games, and older games, perform better on the systems they are aimed at. Ever wonder why games like Planescape works great on a system from its error, but fails miserably without tweaking, mods, and in-system editing on a modern system? Much like how when 64bit came along 32 bit applications would run faster, and why it is a well known fact that: APPLICATIONS WITHOUT HYPERTHREADING SUPPORT AND MULTITHREAD SUPPORT WORK BETTER ON SYSTEMS WITHOUT THEM. Ever since I clocked my system down from 4.5ghz to 2,6ghz the game runs smoother.

I have a hero engine licence... Now, anyone can get them, at no charge. Easy as pie.

I love how you, yourself, make broad generalisations. I also love how you imply that the post I quoted, states that those who do not have such things have no life. he merely stated that he has a life, has these things, thus plays games as a hobby and not a lifestyle. Also no where does it say that there should be no challenge, and that the game should be easy mode. However, I must add that, in my experience, themepark style games, like this, while they may contain enemies that have high stats, are still generally NOT challenging in any real sense. After all, it is simply a matter of using x attack combo for max dps, x skill combo for tanking, heal tank. There is little need for thought. And since we are so restricted in what we can equip, and what powers we can use, there is no variety like there is in the likes of FFVII, VIII, Oblivion, etc TOR, like most themeparks, and all the ones I have personally played, is easy mode. Hard modes just require better gear, they still add no real challenge.

You are wrong with something you said. There is no such thing as EvE online. It is EVE Online It never has, never will be, and never is EvE except in the hands, eyes, and hearts of *******. Having said that, love your post, and completely agree.

Video game piracy is not destroying the video game market. Massively single player online star wars games, world of star trek, and just generally ****** games are destroying the video game market. Next time you see a bioware game, do what I do. Download it. If it is good, buy it. If it is not, delete it. I bought DA1, didnt buy DA2 you do not lose money from a pirate, because they would not have paid anyway. Someone who wants a good game from you will pay if you provide it to them. There is a band, old school rock, that said up yours to their record label, released their album for free on their site and asked people to pay whatever they thought it was worth. They made far more. An example of people will pay for something if they think it is worth it

No, they do not. "player driven economy" EVE? All other sandbox mmos? Gold sellers exist, but the companies crack down on them hard, and in the case of EVE, you can buy PLEX and sell it for in game currency, so the isk sellers are both more expensive and a waste.

WHO CARES IF THEY ADD MORE STUFF LATER ON This game had 6 years of development, at a cost of over $200 MILLION. WoW was developed with less than 1/4 that. Sure, 2 years of programming, but still. They have had more then enough time and money to make sure the game had sufficient end game content to keep people occupied enough. Maybe not for the people without a life, but still. Part of it could have been dynamically generated gear and open world end game pvp with faction shifting regions.

You know I could care less right? Look up hero engine. It is free. I got mine approved before the global "we approve everyone" http://www.heroengine.com/ HeroCloud is Here! Download Download the platform today Get the HeroEngine FREE! Build any type of online game (RPG, FPS, RTS and more). Publish your game as a stand-alone client, stream it to players or let them play it on the web. We handle & pay for all your servers, hosting, bandwidth & 3rd party technology. You keep 70% of the money your game makes. There is no cost to you to use HeroCloud. Now please ****

Hence why the game only has a max of 6 months at a time subscription, with no lifetime launch and no 1 year launch subs.

Actually, yes, it is trivial. It is a VERY simple task to filter the account database for those registered to the region, then flag those accounts as transferable, then to flag the characters as wanting to transfer if the client says yes, then to filter the character database for all those who flagged yes to transfer, then to transfer those from 1 database to another What you obviously miss, most likely due to insufficient intelligence, is that by being FORCED TO WAIT if someone else takes your character name, or your legacy name, you are F U C K E D LOTR is an OLD game, with poor programing, and run by a deficient company. However, a game with better programming, and run by a top market company, like Bioware, could not have these issues.

Ok, I need to address something here. First of all: It IS Bioware's fault that so many people are having problems when they should not. they already have gone on record stating that there was so much they had to modify for Hero engine for it to fit their needs. I develop with heroengine myself, and have put my machine (which I also use for gaming) through the paces without issues at all. With high ping, in many, many, many places you will see that the server is telling the client which textures to load, and where, rather then simply telling the client to load x npc, or x building. It is a huge issue However, it IS the client's fault (as in the end user) if their machine is still running on a very ****** graphics card. my mate uses my old 9800gt, factory overclocked, with 1gb of ram, without issue. he has 4 or 8gb of ram, and a quad core. All in all, it is cheapish by modern standards. My rig: Quad core overclocked to 4ghz, 24gb of ram, SLI gtx 470s, latest drivers. I have high ping to The Progenitor server, but it is almost never HIGH on population. I have seen the aforementioned server loading textures problems. I get massive lag issues with just TURNING, which has never happened on any other mmo I have played, even when running torrent programs and expending 90% of my bandwidth. Bioware can admit their mistake: look at dragon age 2 Bioware will not admit this, because it means they are liable to fix the issue. Otherwise it becomes a media frenzy, so to speak, and their stock prices will drop because it means one more direction towards a flop on a $200 million title with a name as major as Star Wars. They are quiet because, frankly, most people are not gonna just pack up and quit. they will complain and complain and complain for months, then years until Bioware decides to fix the issue, meanwhile they keep their subscriptions and bioware keeps making a lot of money. And FYI, this game does have memory leak issues. It gets up to 1.9gb of usage almost constantly. It is close to the point where I am gonna need to flag the exe for LMAA (Large Memory Address Awareness) so it can access 4gb of my memory.

you only need 1 server, really, per location pvp server can be dupluicated by an option that MUST be turned on or off in options. rp and pve server is pointless to differentiate. EVE has shown us that you can, easily, accomodate 60,000 people per server. Yes, it is designed to accomodate 180,000, but the highest it has seen is 65k at once. But it requires very streamlined netcode. If you ever get a wait queue with this population, THEN you add more servers. And this game requires FAR less in the form of database access then eve does, so the server would not need to be as extreme. However, if we must have server segregation like we do, I do not want more then 3. Low population servers = **** experience

Q1) Are you ever going to improve the server code? As it stands, the server tells the client what textures to load, and where, for the local environment. This is especially noticable at high ping, but is also incredibly inefficient. The client should already be aware of what textures to load, and where, when the server says "player location is x,y,z in area abc". Q2) The game advertised, before launch, a robust character customisation system, same gender romances and flirts, an exciting space combat system, and several other things that you did not deliver on. When will these be provided to us? The character customisation system is very limited, and professional mmos have been providing better character customisation since at least 2004. Look at the DDO, STO, Everquest, WoW, APB, and new EVE avatar creator. That is robust. What you have provided is rudimentary, even by early ps2 standards for custom avatars. The space combat system is not exciting. It is tunnel vision. While it is a diversion from the typical gameplay, it is hardly anything new. Yes, it works well for consoles, but it does, ultimately, just feel lazy. And the same gender romances, well, would not have taken much at all to implement. Though we all really want to know will you also be including same gender flirt options with npcs during the story? As it stands, TOR is incredibly sexist. All love for males, no love for femals. Q3) Will you be implementing the ability for those with Cybertech, or those with deep pockets, to purchase droids? It could be as simple as an item you buy/craft, and when used adds a certain droid npc, with equipment options, to the companion roster that is flagged as "guest". When this droid dies it is removed from the roster, but otherwise remains for an indefinite period. Limit number of droids to, say, 1 per 50 points in cybertech, +1. Minimum of 1 Edit: Q4) When will you be fixing the texture issue? When high textures are selected we are only shown low or medium textures. Edit: Q5) When will you be including advanced graphics settings, like all modern professional, non crappy console-ports include?