While subscriptions are not the only revenue stream for SWTOR, they are an important source of revenue. There is probably a magical minimum number of subscribers required to keep this game afloat financially. I fear that as KotFE wears on and new story content is added too few and far between, even the story-lovers will ask themselves "Why am I continuing to pay a monthly sub?" I think KotFE was a last-quarter-2015 cash grab, and as far as what happens after that ... it's not that BW/EA doesn't care ... they simply lack the foresight and wisdom to project the long-term outcome of their short-term thinking.

[hi-jack] Once new group content arrives (lol), it will be interesting to see how BW explains the presence of 4 or 8 or 16 different Outlanders in the flashpoints/ops that will certainly be incorporated into the story in some way. After all, this is epicBWstorytellingwhereeverychoicematters. [/hi-jack]

The problem is the un-optimized engine, not your philosophical rambling.

No one controls anything. Conquests the most absurd and poorly implemented thing in the game. So much guild vs. guild potential in the idea, but amounting to what?

- Redacted after reading patch notes -

Those aren't the real sentinels/marauders. They are alts of smugglers/agents.

THEY COULDN'T CARE LESS. KotFE is a giant reset and ALL of us who are playing now are completely irrelevant to EA/BW.

A message to all you BW apologists: Go away and never come back.

'Mericuh.

That's not the point. The point is that by recapping the class stories, they are creating the illusion of information and content, while delivering very little.

Dont need recaps of the class stories. Stop regurgitating old information to fill the void created by your complete inability to communicate relevant information to the community.

That was the thought exactly, with no pod race, no Darth Vader. Thank goodness.

I just had a terrifying thought ... Have not seen Phantom Menace for at least 10 years so can't remember ... Does Jar-Jar in anyway have any influence on the fact that Anakin joined and/or won the Podrace? I shudder to think the answer is yes, but would like to know the plot detail. Anyone see where I am going with this?

Hi BW, please post here and update us on this issue. Or what, you're not allowed to? Sad.

ROFL, +1 BW, the info existing subscribers need is this: What in KotFE warrants our continuing subscription? If you MARKETING GENIUSES don't have a ready-scripted, official company line on this, then YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE DOING.

A smattering of sarcastic responses for (hopefully) comic relief, and perhaps to jibe some of you story-lovers: You mean like the directionless SoR culminating in the Ziost fiasco? Biggest mystery is why anyone with an existing subscription will continue to fork out cash month after month for what amounts to a drop in a bucket. But no one knows why it's epic, not even BW, because the story is not finished, they don't know where they are going with it. No such country anymore, it's the Czech Republic. Slovakia is independant. Kind of like BW and EA .... NOT.

This is taking streamlining a bit too far. Every companion can fill every roll and it doesn't matter what gear they have. Can you perhaps make it even simpler, BW, in case there are any 6-year-olds playing?

Then I suppose that THAT is the key difference of perspective that supports both of our arguments. Within the context you are talking about (bringing back old players), your arguments about metrics make sense. What I am saying is that their focus is primarily on attracting new players and starting up the game's life cycle anew, and for that purpose, existing metrics are not relevant.

If BW did actually engage in this kind of analysis, I will readily admit that this seems relevant and good. I am assuming it would cost more to develop group content concurrently along with the main story than not to. Their current direction has the potential of generating more revenue by drawing in new players. If they had released an expansion similar to those in the past, with story and group content in some kind of balance, it would not be as attractive to new players as this quasi-reset with a free level 60 to subscribers. The expansion is aimed at them, not at existing players. Attracting new subscribers is what will make the game succeed beyond the initial buy in, because for them, there is a whole lot of content, and BW can then afford to slow down the release of further content and updates to suit the needs of those playing the game for the first time. Great for new subscribers, not so great for long-time players who have done it all and seen it all, save for a few hours of new story in KotFE. I think what their metrics may have shown is that existing subscribers are at the end of their useful life-span, and that it is time to move on to a new group. Something like for each old subscriber lost, 3 new ones are projected ... good deal for BW. I just wish they would be more upfront about it. Hey Manace in all honesty, good answers this time around. I can agree with a lot of what you said, but I am still hoping we can work towards the following common ground: My argument is based around the proverbial question of what came first, the chicken or the egg. I say the decision and strategy came first, and then data and numbers were analyzed with the intention of showing what they have been reported as showing. The idea that BW's change of direction with KotFE comes from an analysis of raw data that preceeded this change of direction is what seems insane to me. In short: Task: raise revenue by attracting and keeping subscribers Solution step 1: story-focused iteration of SWTOR with a free jump to 60 Solution step 2: scale all old ops to level for new subscribers, so they have plenty of content Afterthought: release an analysis of metrics that support this path What I am saying is that the 2-step solution does not necessitate any analysis of metrics in order to be implemented. It simply requires good business sense and an understanding of who you are marketing a product to and what they might want. And you know what? There are no metrics for the potential subscribers they are trying to attract. And that's who KotFE is for.

Yorioko you need to read the whole thread, you are completely off-topic. ______________________________________ OK Draqsko, I see the distinction you are making with regards to budget, ROI and no direct "re-investment". But that said, I think my point is still valid: If KotFE performs well financially in Q4 2015, EA will still have no incentive to raise BW's budget for 2016 to "add" group content, as the game will (hypothetically) be performing to expectation without it. The only reason they would raise the budget and allow for the development of group content would be that they understand the life-cycle they are beginning and realize that the new subscribers they attract will eventually wear the story down, try all the scaled-up ops and then demand new group content ... but I'm not sure I trust EA to have this kind of forsight. I think if the game performs well with the reduced costs associated with streamlining development to single-player only, they will try to ride that wave as far as it goes.

I meant "always" lag at launch, not all the time.

A question worth asking: What will be there to do in the game in October 2016? Or more generally, what is BW's long-term vision for SWTOR?

I echo that sentiment, 100% agreement. However, I am not convinced that if the game "does well" in its single-player-focused iteration, that EA will have any incentive to pump more money into the game at the start, because they need to "bank" their return on the initial investment that was doled out for KotFE. But for new endgame/group content to come out "on time", i.e. to prevent loss of interest down the road, they have to be working on it right now. Too late to start designing FPs and Ops when subscribers start dropping. Who would those Ops then be for?

Prediction: the live stream will be a propaganda-laden delay mechanism that will do nothing to answer the concerns that many people on the forums have voiced. It will however continuously stress areturntoepicbiowarestorytelling whereeverychoicematters, because that is BW's new and ever-more-meaningless trope that deflects attention from the glaring problems that are sure to come in KotFE.

The point is that BW did NOT use metrics to MAKE their decision. Data was analyzed in a certain way after decisions were made to demonstrate that their decision was grounded in some sort of statistically verifiable premise. The metrics cannot possibly ever show that, because of the way the game is set up. You MUST engage in story activity to get to max level and the endgame. It is for this reason that I find that it is misleading to represent what people DO with what people WANT. People who WANT to engage in group content DO play the story, but do not necessarily want more story. BW (especially in their patronizing reveal announcement at E3) has represented it this way to hide the fact that the change of focus in KotFE is NOT in response to people's desires but as a decision designed to bring in new customers and begin the subscription-base cycle anew. The single-player focus will of course align with the wishes of many existing players, perhaps even the majority. That is not however the motivation behind the change, and that is where BW is dishonestly mis-representating its actions.