I don't really have a dog in this fight but I ddin't have one bit of trouble forgiving Arcann. After all, he sort of asked for it in trying to take Vailyn off the table without plan out killing her. He's willing to remove her and himself from what has basically destroyed their lives. When faced with the Outlander he accepted his faults and whatever judgement would await him. I dunno if he ever fights back but I didn't see him attempting to myself since I made the offer for him to rejoin his mother. All the way around he's a changed man to me. Now if he had thrown Vailyn over a balcony to her death then died I supposed we'd all cheer at his redemption (that was sarcasm). Vader on the other hand does one single act in his entire life for someone else and it clears the board completely. That's one aspect of Star Wars I hate to dwell on because it bugs me so much. The Prequels even made me dislike the character more. There's nothing you can do worse in my eyes than kill a child yourself on purpose. I get that kids probably died during Arcann's attacks but I ddin't see one telling Arcann "we're scared Master Arcann" to which he apparently slices in half like a good stupid Sith. God! I can't even think about that I pisses me off so badly!! There's just no similarities to me between the two. One saw his faults once the darkness was removed. Something that Valkorian did with sure fine care. I mean, its pretty vicious to eventually get one son to kill the other but manipulating the situation hoping for such an outcome. Then we have little Darth Childkiller come along and we already know the Council feels there's something dangerous about him. The darkness is already there since apparently he was born from it all Jesus like. They should have stepped in and demanded he be removed from the Jedi. But the lying and refusing to accept that his place wasn't with the Jedi. However Anakin wanted to be one the Council because Anakin is special and gets to decide which rules he'll follow. He goes to Yoda for guidance and he tells him he has to let go of what he's afraid to lose but he comes away no that's not what he's going to do because he knows best since obviously Yoda has never been in love being not Anakin. The whole character makes me ill. I do admit I have this sick enjoyment of watching the last fight between Anakin and Obi-Wan. I just find it justified considered the Younglings that he gets hacked to pieces. I've seen the film maybe twice but that part I've watched probably over ten times now. I wanted him to keep hacking at him. See all his flesh burn. I just hate that guy. And I still think he had no idea saving Luke in Return would kill him and it was a total oh **** moment I guess I better tell the kids bye. Let me compose myself and just say not wanting to forgive Arcann is understandable. I think even my heart would soften towards Darth Childkiller if he had once asked for forgiveness while he was still in a position of power. Arcann doesn't have to join the Alliance and help stop his sister. He could have ran and been the same guy but he didn't. I just never saw that from that other guy but if I had I might have thought maybe he has changed. Maybe who did those horrible things is gone. But with Arcann we get the chance to forgive or not. We're not forced to accept it even though we've seen nothing which would merit it. His tragedy is a father who is beyond evil. Not like the other guy who walks straight towards it, even knowing what it is, and just keeps walking no matter who calls him back. Now as to women sleeping with him (or men). I think that just means all the parts are working. That doesn't have to have anything to do with emotion if that's what they want. I don't see anything to fall in love with though unless someone is projecting. At present he's still a pretty broken man who has years of abuse to resolve. I'm not sure he can love in that way yet. He's going have to get used to a motherly love (though he does have a headstart since I do think he had love for his sister... and fear). Now I have to go take some blood pressure medicine for talking about that crap character I hate in Star Wars...

You folks do realize that adding @username to your character name is a rename, right?

To quote my dad, "Huh?"

To me if you want a game to be a service you have to actually have a service to sell me. This micro-transaction filled game industry isn't doing that. They are just going for the quick buck while service remains lacking. Take SWTOR. I subscribe to it though technically I don't need to but due to so many players not subscribing, the most content added to the game is the packs. Not the actual service I pay for each month. That's the big disconnect. But the store makes money I guess or something to keep the constant stream of new packs while reasons to subscribe remain stagnate. So if this new game comes along and wants to walk that same walk then its going to be a failure. That's the problem EA and other companies are finding. They offer junk in randomize doses where the only service being provided is gambling. And while it might take time, the gambling laws will catch up to them. We'll either see a shift on how micro-transactions are done or we'll warm our feet on all the burning corpse of video game companies. Cosmetics is a easy get since if your game has some popularity to it then people are more willing to invest to become part of that world their playing. But if you go so far as to make it so the hair and beard don't match on your character then you'll just get backlash. I think the next evolution of services to provide is actual content. Short mini quests that aren't necessary to the main game but for those who love the game world might find a foot hold. Like I said cosmetics are usually in this spot but eventually like every game currently out there you eventually get to a point where the new stuff looks like the old (or is the old just recolored). Those just become a blur of sameness even where something is truly unique. I find it rather appealing to have a game world where it expands as long as your wallet lasts. A bit like comics. You read a Batman comic and you get more Batman each month. But if you've read a Batman comic and gotten all the Batman you care for then that's okay. You still got enough Batman to enjoy. Games these days could go a long way with me if the game itself was always expanding. I'd buy every new DLC for any of the Dragon Age games if they were doing them. I like each one of them and miss those characters. I'd rather my $15 a month in SWTOR go towards one single new planet (or more of an existing one) than certain aspects of the game I'm not interested in. At any rate, I don't think this mandate of EA's is good for the longevity of the industry or the games themselves. After all its still missing the service part due to the intoxication of all the folks shelling out a little bit of cash for trash. They keep disappointing these people and that will dry up. Its not us old timers that have gotten sick of this but the younger folks. They're children will not have access to micro-transactions whether they still exist or not. If you envision your company only lasting a decade then that's as good a place to hang your hat as any. Already the language has changed. EA's definition of games as a service seems to be offer nothing of value and find new ways to teach those who actually enjoy the actual game to not come around here no more. More companies are being hit with that stigma. The word service is anything but when used by a games company. But we do have to keep in mind that some filmmakers would make films that helped toy sales just because toy sales were so huge back then. Its one reason I always thought Disney and Star Wars made a great pairing. Though I think Disney has the upper hand on making more often its there merchandise where they really cash in. When I look at Star Wars the only things I found good between Empire and Force Awakens were the books. Most of which isn't canon (and with very good reason in so many cases). At some point I am going to expect Disney to expect more from Star Wars in other areas than just the films for the younger set. I'd much rather have Little Mermaid II quality content from games than micro-transaction loot boxes. Plus so far this gambling thing has been tied to game companies when really Star Wars is tied to a multi-billion dollar corporation with a huge audience of children. That is one sure way for EA to lose a license.

Well, Zahn himself helped his previous work right out the canon door with his new novel (and upcoming sequel). That's the difference between canon and history. They've redesigned canon to having gone back just before the Prequel films (I don't think anything has been done further back since) but history of the novels and stuff went way further. I don't think its a sign of Disney's getting back involved since Zahn can and should work wherever he wants. Until they pay for his day to day for the rest of his life, they don't own him. And so BioWare reached out and asked if he care to participate in some stunt writing for them on the Star Wars property. That would be how things shook out to me. Even though the game is non-canon currently I sort of doubt Disney has a complete hands off approach. Might just be as advisors and turning down some outlandish ideas or not allowing them to reference current films in some manner. I'm totally wanting a Revan film though even if that doesn't return any of the games to canon. Or it might be a remastered/remaike KOTOR. But having Kahn involved in SWTOR is just a kind of neat thing properties do even if they are completely redoing what that person did in the past with it.

Welp, I'd be doubly pissed since I don't want to lose either Lana or Theron.

Mobile games are huge!! In Japan. They don't do nearly as well in the USA. Just watched a games news report on that very thing. Like everything else, they'll have their day and we'll all move on. Its happened to every genre on every type of method to play them on. It wasn't that long ago that Microsoft had buried Playstation and everyone and their uncle had a new MMO coming out. Now look at us. But people are kidding themselves if they think EA is producing a new MMO (or I am). They are simply too costly to produce when they can literally put the same weapon (with different skins) in everyone's hands then send them out into a Star Wars playground and folks will pay them and even gobble up some loot boxes that make the experience even worse. My guess would be another shooter but I'm not sure they'll want to compete against their upcoming one. What I think they mean by retooling the game is we're killing this before it costs us anymore and you'll forget about it until we quietly cancel it just like we do with all the others. If they keep this up, they literally will have nothing left to buy and destroy and might actually have to make games themselves.

The crates are okay every once in a while. I would never plan to gear that way myself but during this past week, I strangely updated my entire left side with them. I got a lot of repeats too as opposed to the orange stuff I had been getting. Now that its slowed down again, it seems back to normal with crap and crap with a side of crap. So I just ignore it and find appreciation for the stuff I do use like the gifts and the rare occasion that I keep the appearance gear. So i just treat them as useless and ignore them for the most part. But then you have something like upgrading an entire side and think maybe this one will give me something good. I didn't grind either. I needed to do 20 warzones for a companion and just flew through them. I'm uncertain if they actually dropped more usable items or I just got them faster.

I abhor loot boxes. I'm okay with micro-transactions of cosmetics. Ad I'm not that bothered by DLCs. I think DLCs are a better way to go as long as the base game is complete. But if its a good game that I enjoy, I'll buy the DLCs. Every one of them. I know people have issues with some of the games but I loved the entire run of Dragon Age. I really loved Inquisition and saw there they added too much which would have actually served the game better as DLCs. I think there are four land masses which barely tie to the base game and don't have that clear of an identity. But if they had been removed and given their own main quest then they would have done better. To me. I know folks hate DLCs but at least there if they do them right you can pick and choose. With the way loot boxes are ruining games today, you can't even try to ignore them. Battlefront has made them the progression of the game. I get enough RNG without paying for more. I was actually going to pick that game up day of release but now I'm soured on it. There's nothing that hasn't been tainted so guess I'll see what next year brings. I get that games are expensive to make and they should recoup their investment. I just don't believe that's all they want and they are doing anything to get more cash. Except allow a game to play as if loot boxes didn't exist. They're annoying in free to play games but now single player games coming that are full of them. And so much focus on multiplayer when we're just looking for a decent game. Not expand our social circles more than they are already.

I think you folks are missing the most obvious reason so many characters never got their ships. The game is boring. There's a great article or video which talks about how all MMOs are really copies of each other game wise. Why would you find fetch quests interesting here if you were tired of them in another game? I'm sure a good portion of those players weren't new to MMOs and even though its got a Star Wars skin there's way too much of the same game play. It doesn't matter what game you play today (or yesterday for that matter) they all play the same basically. We're even talking about raiding which isn't that different. Bunch of people get together and learn some mechanics while avoiding standing in stupid. So that seems more likely to me than there wasn't enough raiding for them or the story didn't matter. If the game felt boring (and just the game part can) then I could see people just returning to whatever game the left. Probably WoW where they killed their six wolves years ago. Where they had an established character. SWTOR and every other game that keeps fetch quests alive do themselves a disservice because for some players that's enough to decide the story isn't that interesting and they don't want to do all that again just to get to the raids. It was Star Wars. Something different than any other game they were playing. Yet played like every game they've played. I'm sure some were new as well. But people seem so entrenched in their idea that operations aren't important or story doesn't matter that you're assigning them as reasons people didn't make it to their ships. That sounds more like the game was boring for them. Plus they may do the whole try a character out the make an alt to try another till they find one they like. Not everyone deletes. I think we can all agree there's not enough of whatever it is we want more of at least

I'm really certain, absolutely positive, no one on the forums knows why SWTOR has failed. Be it the previous expansions or the newer ones, we just don't know. I do think Galactic Command as it was first introduced was a bad decision that even sounds bad if said out loud. How could RNG gear acquirement ever be seen as a positive is beyond me. If that's how it was meant to be always and forever. I think it works much better as an incentive for players to do different activities each day so the population (apparently small) could work together more easily. In that respect I can understand why they felt the need to make it also the only source of gear. The players could have just turned their backs on this new tool like so many MMO players do to every new choice offered by developers (every game makes some effort in this direction if simply to focus players so they don't scatter themselves). Making it the only gear source would get their attention. I don't think they realized how badly the RNG aspect would be received. People have hated RNG since forever. Nothing more frustrating to go to the well three or four times and see nothing for your efforts. That's my interpretation but like I said, I don't really know what works and what doesn't. GC may be working exactly as intended from the start and just have been a bad method of rollout. Its certainly has no bearing on how you gain gear today and instead offers that maybe you get lucky once feel. Grinding it does nothing for your chances as its so tired to RNG. But they have to consider the affect GC had and the chapters themselves. Then look at the previous expansions and try to work out a solution to go further. I'm not sure what that could be if nothing worked previously. Perhaps gaining new players is the only option as retaining them has proven to be impossible. We just don't know since we don't see the information they have before them. But I do think they are trying and what I hope is they ignore all this free advice (for the most part) and develop a vision to stick with. Even if its a bad vision it gives the game some direction. Something where we don't feel this upheaval is always around the bend at some point. Visions can be adjusted. Not having them and just throwing everything at a problem doesn't solve it. The game probably is in an okay spot. The population is down but many games survive with low populations. I think we'll see more people playing than we really thought when we merge. So getting us together then offering solid entertainment (which might not be for everyone) is important since happy players spend money in your store which I'm sure helps keep EA happy and SWTOR with funds. But this whole idea of gutting a game in some fashion to fix it just makes things worse. Not everything appeals to everyone. All it really needs to do is appeal to enough people. Lets move ahead and get the game on a bit more stable ground. That's the biggest problem to me is the feeling we're in constant flux where nothing is working but there's no clear solution. When they said group content would be the focus, I thought we'd get group content which doesn't seem to be the case with half a raid and two flashpoints. If that's focused then wow. There's simply not much there which would satisfy thousands of people to form groups. Lots of all that stuff would have felt more focused but again, I have no idea what's happening behind the scenes for some of the things that are happening so we're all just taking a guess about everything until the game closes and someone writes a book.

The thing about EA you have to keep in mind is they want ALL their games to be a live service. In other words, a store front for virtual goods. Look at what they did to Battlefront II to see how they perceive their own games. Studios must add some component that lets you bypass playing the game for those that don't like playing games (is pretty much most companies explanation why loot boxes are shoved into single player games). Same sort of thing Warner did with Shadow of War. We must have a method to bypass having to play the game and we need to sell it. It makes no sense to create a game you want people to skip through and when it comes to selling things then sure, sacrifice the game if it helps. I was never expecting this game myself. There had been too much hype without any true movement in its development. Or at least what they shared. The idea sounded great and like a cool SINGLE player game (I'm so tired of multiplayer in every freaking thing now). But it just seemed like vaporware. I would have played it regardless how linear since the whole concept (that I heard) of playing a smuggler interacting with the entire Star Wars universe is cool itself. So I'm really not buying this excuse. I'm more likely to believe they didn't want to force some artificial method of skipping the game itself just to sell some crates which we know for certain EA is all about now (since they've released press saying as much) so EA helped them to the door.

I just find myself not caring that choices matter or don't mainly due to 1) I know its just a slogan which does have some truth to it and 2) we're really just going to be going through the same thing regardless of our choices. And this is true for the pre-KotFE/KotET. I've been fiddling around with two trooper characters one who is by the books regardless and the other who follows their heart. Its just a matter of some dark choices versus some light ones. They still follow the same story doing the same thing. Its just a little different color to the walls. And I don't have the option to really make some drastic choices. Such as I could never decide to defect. In fact through out all class stories, I have no actual choice to make the wrong choice that cuts me off from content (or offers new content). For the most part though, I like the choices that do matter that we get. I may not have the option to just leave Zakuul or the service in SWTOR but that's fine with me. We know games have a tendency to grab you by the nose and lead you to where you must go to experience an ending that you've been working toward whether you like it or not. Like in DAO. You will fight that dragon regardless even if your character is the biggest coward who slipped out the back while no one was looking. You just have to quit the game and never pick up that save again. That choice esists but I think what we want is for that outcome to be explored. And games do not always explore every possible decision. That doesn't mean I wouldn't have like a more tailored to my current character solely. It would have been nice to have my always light side choice knight quit being offered a dark side choice but give me a completely different thing to choose between. Its always possible someone will make a dark sided choice the first time but if you don't ever get a good enough reason then they become annoying reminders they never will be. The game just isn't built that way.. There are also disappointing decisions. My warrior finally met this Jaesa (spc?) that I've heard about and got her as a companion. And turning her to the dark side was so stupid easy. I was expecting this long process which may still fail. Yet within two dialog wheel choices I have the girl killing her former master so easily and the deed is really done at that point. And she goes all the way dark. The eyes changes that took my character a number of levels. The manner of dress (one of the stupidest looks I've seen in the game). And for god's sake will the VO actor spit out her gum next time before she does some lines? So I figure man, to balance this out keeping her light sided must require massive abouts of work on your part. I have done another warrior to know. We don't need to take the phrase 'choices matter' so literally. You get some choices throughout the game. Some which matter but perhaps not the way you think they should. That's been my experience. Where I do get to make choices, its more to add flavor to the type of character I want to play. But regardless of them existing, I'm always going to hit each plot point and they just add some color to the character I'm crafting. I can have degrees of light sided or dark sided characters. But it really doesn't matter how far I go with either. I'm going to hit each plot point within the game even if I think my choices should change what those are. Choices have never mattered and a slogan shouldn't have made us think they suddenly would. Especially in a MMO.

Oh, of course. I'm just suggesting they diverge the story for those that want to go that route. And that's assuming we'll be getting anything ever related to a class story individually. There's no way they'll add these two classes in when the original system was so expensive to the point they'd never do class stories again. I'm hoping they meant class origin stories and not at least have some separation. I can't imagine another story where they put us back in our factions but it tells one singular story for everyone. So if they don't do that, then I'd like to defect my agent. I feel that story line promise has been dropped since currently we still can't change factions. If the problem is changing factions means fitting the old class into the new class (bounty hunter to trooper) then don't change the class just add the new "class" as former Imperial agents now known as Republic agents and Republic troopers as Imperial. They're still really the same class just a modification of the faction tag. Of course I have no idea how that works because even though it seems simple to change a word, I'm sure its not that simple. They might could also give them some of the smuggler missions (again if they make class specific ones) to the agent instead of doing their own thing. Not sure if bounty hunters and troopers are that similar in the end but perhaps they can just be a part of the agent story line over there. At any rate, that's a much more manageable option for them than actually adding two new classes. There's a good bit of depth we aren't getting from the current institutions in the game this could help flesh out more. We need to see where Theron used to work and where Elara was working before her defection. Perfect chance to showcase both. This all is making the assumption they will end the Alliance which I believe is their plan. One reason is just the vibe I get from them and another is how they've not done anything to really reach the potential of us leading a major political and power force within the galaxy. I've been waiting to leverage that power since I got mine and I'm still waiting. Its a bit disappointing.

It can't be all bad. We at least still have gold sellers in the game.

Just because a large portion of raiders are gone doesn't mean do nothing for raiders ever again. If those players are like me, they revisit past games to see if they catch them again. That's one way EQ has kept me off and on for over 15 years. I check back, remember when and play a few months or more then off again. Granted its the only game I make return visits to but there's something about your first I guess. This is Star Wars and whenever something new happens in that galaxy people remember stuff from their past. I think they should be doing more currently given how popular it is again but I suspect that has more to do with Lucasfilm and the old EU than BioWare not noticing there are new movies out. And one of the first place I hit on EQ is the forums. Last time I played (last year) they were full of "this game is dead" and "let this game die already" but it just keeps going in some fashion. Yearly expansions don't hurt since the entire game focuses on those expansions like nothing else exists in them. I'm sure SWTOR may be like WoW to me. I never have gone back and when I left I stayed gone for good even though I have checked in to see what they were doing now. I don't dislike it like I used to and think its probably the most perfect interpretation of an MMORPG I've seen but there's just something about it that leaves a bitter taste. Its community a major one. But to my point, there's never going to be the chance to recapture raiders or create new raiders if the creation of raids disappears completely. Like I said, a MMO without raiding just doesn't feel like a MMO. No flashpoint or warzone is going to make up for that type of group content so if its not there that signals there probably isn't any.

I don't think a game can really exist where choices matter. I've played Dragon Age Origins several times and for some reason I always end up on top of a tower fighting a dragon. There are more than one branch of a story. Elves or werewolves. King consort or dead. But... spoilers... Morrigan always leaves. And that's a single player game that gets lots of praise for making choices mean something. They just mean something sort of like which cutscene did you get with Koth. He may be alive for me but he plays dead pretty well. Its just impossible to truly have a game give thousands their own individual choice. We just get to choose from the ones available. I don't think they have enough available outcomes but given how many we'd truly need (after all you have to replay DAO several times to see them all), I don't think its anywhere inexpensive. Doesn't mean I like getting the same thing everyone else does regardless of even alignment. That way too few where at least two might have been workable. I have been curious what all those "your choice will be remembered" adds up to and for what reason since I haven't replayed any of the chapters. I guess it depends out how many outcomes you expect since someone else's story is never going to take into account exactly what you'll like to do. I can't even get it to say exactly what i want all the time. But that tag about a game didn't make sense when they said it so I take it was just a slogan for promotion about a game which feature a lot of story content and nothing more.

Why not continue the theme of betrayal and just have agents go to the Republic and join up with the SIS while troopers leave for the Empire and join the troopers. Then you won't have to worry about past content and only future content. In the agents' case, there's already the door open for some depending on how your story goes and if the Alliance is to end then it makes perfect sense. Even in the trooper story it starts out with the treason of some assumed troopers betraying to the Empire. Lets just take that storyline further. Its not an ideal solution but I'd love to get my agent into the SIS since I'd already abandon him for a Republic agent character if it were available.

But didn't the expansion just come out last November or December? That's an awfully short time frame to finish all their classes and depart while its been much longer for those that like group content more yet they are still around. I classify myself as a story player currently. I hop in and do some stuff then hop out. I don't do social anything not even the occasional flashpoint. I needed to do 20 warzones that I cranked out over the weekend but that was it for the most part. I like story a whole lot. It was the story in SWTOR that sent me to check out their Dragon Age games which I've played all the way through with all DLC. My new favorite addiction. Still BioWare would make a huge financial mistake to do story for a player like me since I don't technically need a subscription to enjoy the story but I keep one because when I do a flashpoint or warzone I want to be able to earn the rewards I'm entitled to. A subscription model, even a free to play model, doesn't work with a story only player. Wait then pay $15 once and its all yours. To survive the game has to appeal to those who would put down that subscription fee. Certainly they make money from the store. Probably more. But people have to have something to do to stay with a game. You have to have someone around to see your new purchase or new combination of creations. The game is dreadfully dull hanging around your stronghold trying on outfits. At least to me. There are parts of it I spent a long time decorating just so and haven't seen in months. And that's just the one. The rest I haven't even visited. Even if we're story players that doesn't mean we don't want a game for when we want something else to do. Its the same with alts for me. I want to experience a different class for a while and some times I want that experience to include others. PvP has nothing to do with you versus the game. Its just another person using the tools to fight another person. Its one of the most casual friendly things you can add to a game also. Just as this one bolsters you up to compete others have brackets. But the mechanics of bringing a large group of players together that challenges them and is entertaining enough that they come back even if they have failed three or four times before. That takes skill on both the developers and players part. PvP just like to consider themselves elite but they're so common they are found in every game. Sort of like bugs I PvP more than any other group activity myself. And I suck at it. And every game that has focused solely on PvP has been utter failure. I'm sure there's one left. But its a play style where someone has literally given you a stick and a rock then sent you out to go play with each other. Plus almost every single game has to made some adjustment to the game to allow these "elite" players to have fun. I don't think its a play style they should ignore but no game should ever design around it. Oh the gear thing, that's exactly what I would like to see is some better raiding brought in. Operations bring very little to the gear chase since you can get the same thing through PvP or a crate can drop it into your lap. And it makes absolutely no sense to have gear being only available to PvPers since gear isn't (or isn't supposed to) to be what that's about. I like the idea that gear works completely different in PvP than normally myself but they want to stick with the one size fits all which is fine I guess. But operations would look so much more attractive (speaking personally here) if that's where the best gear was found and the only place it was found. If they introduce a new tier, I really believe that it should only be found there. That change there would be enough to have some reconsider never doing an operation. Just a little RNG to just about piss folks off (almost not completely) and raiding might be a thing in SWTOR. And I really use the term elite to describe players that have beaten the best the game has to offer. They should have the look you can't find anywhere else and the stats you can't get anywhere else. If people are jealous and want that then they'll learn to raid. The game should rethink its current raids and work out a progression with them to help bring players up in the skill needed. Some flashpoints are so scattered in how they present content that I imagine its the same in the raids. Some are stupid easy then others are stupid hard yet you can't go by anything until you're in the fight.

No, I was okay with the flashpoint itself game wise. But that ending was like what the hell just happened. I saw it coming months ago but I thought it would give me answers not switch to some other game I wasn't playing. I would love, absolutely love, to hear BioWare's reasoning behind that because from my point of view it didn't make one bit of sense even if you looked at it from every angle. I'd swear it was written to be as dumb as possible because even accidentally bad writing isn't that bad.

I just don't see it that way. My gaining something you've had for whatever reason doesn't remove that from you. Like I said, I've played games where each and every time some exclusive for pre-ordering an expansion found its way to otehr's hands and in some cases they didn't even have to pay for the expansion itself. I know last time I bought an EQ expansion the very next one offered those same items to purchasers of the next one as well as that expansion itself. That didn't distract that the painting in my house is still there and still mine. It was sort of cool to see items I've missed here and there offered in some fashion later. I think the have a vendor specifically offering some of that stuff to newer players provided they met a time commitment. And really it doesn't matter who supported what then if neither supports it now. Now is always going to override the past. Its not that big a thing and I've sort of experienced the HK chapter on YouTube so I still got it in a fashion. I had just rather had gotten it where it would matter most to me but if that's the way of things that's the way of things. Its just so strange to have players begging for more content and you just place pieces away because. Not when subscribers today are probably more important than any time in the game's history. And just on an off note, its been about six months since I played EQ/EQ2 and I see they have a new expansion this year after all the talk of that game being dead when Daybreak formed and one of their expansion choices sold for over $100 with all kinds of goodies attached. I can't believe that game is able to charge that kind of cash (its half off at the moment) on its 24th expansion (14th for for EQ2) and we don't even know if SWTOR will ever do another again or not. Daybreak is owned by an investment company. Not a big gaming company like EA. How can this world be like this?!

I'm not quite sure how you can have a MMO that's solely story. Its fine to offer everything a MMO brings with the structure of a story but once you done the story there's little reason to play through it again. I don't even like doing the same heroic again so doing the same story is hundred fold worst. i already know how it goes. I may get to make different choices but its still going to have the same flow and outcome. There's absolutely no reason to subscribe since its not even something I would think about doing weekly. But its fine to have story be a major component of all content. Missions, heroics, flashpoints, and operations are so much more engaging (to me) when there's a story being told which makes me want to see how it ends. Like it or not, operations is a valid option and probably more people should try. I think its the experiences of other games (WoW) and toxic players that scares folks off. I know in WoW you'd avoided the barbed tongues of players as much as some critter. And I'm sure there is some players in SWTOR that now more about the class they aren't playing than the one playing it which is extremely annoying. But that doesn't mean operations can't be fun. They're just different and you deal with those same kinds of people everywhere you would group with folks. If you don't like them, that's okay since many don't. But they used to be the elite players who got the best of the best gear instead of the muddled games we have now that awards everyone that gear or makes it possible to achieve without doing the harder content. Its a shame to me that GC will allow players access to gear they don't need which should be available only to raiders. Now remember I don't raid currently but there's absolutely no reason to hamper the raiding community with gaining new players by removing one of the biggest motivating reasons to raid. That's a big enough method of doing away with raids as anything short of removing them to me. Just my opinion on the subject and as someone that hopes for a best in slot drop from a crate.

Back when I first got into MMOs a raid was actually a raid. 40 people all logged on in one spot for one thing in a game. I don't know if I've even seen that many people in one spot for anything. Raiding has changed but the fun of figuring out the mechanics and who should be doing what remains. I don't care for the time it takes (which probably explains why 40 man raids are a thing of the past). Even 25 man raids were too time consuming. If we've really come to the point where 12 man raids take too much time and effort on anyone's part (player and developer) I can see its time to let them slip into the past. But I don't think those that like raiding are ready to let it go. Raids seem an essential part of every MMO I know of. People like that type of content and for some that's all they care for. I just can't imagine any game just giving up on them completely because they might be difficult. Doing story for all these different classes and alignments is difficult and we know how it does when that's not well done. But I would never think its time to let that go. Having a real story is a rather new thing since MMOs started out with just the bare bones of one that you might not even know it existed. I played EQ for years without knowing there was a story there. I just did stuff because there was stuff to do. I raided and liked it all the way through EQ and WoW. Eventually I just couldn't commit the time to just sit in one spot while a raid was happening. i have to leave the keyboard for all kinds of things now. But if they didn't take too long I wouldn't mind doing them again. But it would be a terrible thing to have any MMO to give up raiding. It wouldn't seem like a MMO any longer.

Not only are companions simply skins for the same thing now, you get so many to choose from you might as well pick the skin you like and just keep it (well, until they kill it). I would put any influence into any of them until you're done with the story as the story determines which companion you take with you all the way through. Once that's done then you can pick a fav. i so want to spoil something for you so you don't put a lot of influence money in one but hopefully you'll be pleased (even though i sure wasn't).

I'm pretty much in agreement over Iokath and Umbara. Extremely disappointed with Iokath then to have it followed by Umbara really made me worried about the game for the first time since I started. I think the previous stuff is just subjective which Iokath and Umbara might be but I can't imagine anyone was thinking how good those two were while playing it for the first time. But I suppose there was someone. I mean, they had to write them to appeal to someone. I just love the whole move to the gray area of things (even the force) to then just drop it like it never occurred that we've been having. I get the desire to return to a certain narrative but it is possible to do that in much better ways. Iokath and Umbara was the first time I felt the game limit me and made choices for me. Literally railroaded to a conclusion its difficult to care about now.