Look up the term 'Dead Cat Bounce'. Do you agree that it applies to SWTOR? p.s. I'm an original player (from way back when lv50 was the highest level you could attain). Then I took a break for a number of years. Returned this time last year and I'm slowly working my way through each of the class stories plus KotFE/KotET. However, going by the number of unaddressed recent companion bugs I don't think I'll be activating 5.10 any time soon; and going by the number of unaddressed previous bugs, I'd have to say that the game doesn't look to have any kind of long-term survivability or resilience. Shame, but the writing is pretty clear on the wall. We can all hope that each bounce will give the cat new life, but this kitty I think is deceased. It's pushing up daisies. Just like Monty Python's parrot.

I play from regional Australia, so there is an additional layer of latency I have to deal with on top of that. This is why I play a solo game.

I would change SWTOR into a single player game set within a multiplayer world like many of its genre. Now before I am hung, drawn and quartered this idea would ONLY happen if AE/BioWare decided that the game was no longer profitable as a MMORPG and had the choice of closing servers and extinguishing the game for good, or reworking it as a solo player game. The benefits to a solo game would be no more need for class or equipment or boss mob balancing, companions wouldn't be bricked because of someone else's gameplay choices etc and content would be easier to churn out.

Ditto Alliance all the way for me as well, which is why I haven't activated 5.10 on any of my girls. Those who are destined to become Alliance Commanders (Jedi Knight, Sith Inquisitor, Sith Warrior and Bounty Hunter) I'll take through to Odessen and complete the traitor arc and they will go no further. Both my Imperial Agent and Jedi Consular will finish their stories just before KotFE so that they don't lose their love interests. My Alliance Commanders will continue their stories if and when the Alliance becomes a third faction.

Hmm, and here I was thinking that 5.10 and returning to Empire vs Republic was going to be the big thing that would revive the game and bring all the lapsed player accounts flooding back. At least that is what you stated over and over again quoting various statistics and polling....

All my girls are from one human family plus their grown-up children. All their partners are human males, although my Consular thinks it is a shame that Zenith never was romantically interested in her because she considers him rather handsome.

If Star Wars MMO is on the way out then I think a Babylon 5 MMO would be a truly awesome replacement - especially if it is set during the Shadow War. Imagine playing one of main races like the Minbari, Narn, Human or Centauri, or from the League of Non-Aligned world, and get J. Michael Straczynski to write the story lines.

And yet again Ylliarus rushes in complete with her armoury of sweeping statements.

I'm actively playing a Consular at the moment. During combat and while he is healing, Iresso has the voice and statements of Zenith. However, during Consular quest line cut scenes he sounds like himself. I can't recollect what the environment statements are - will listen and update this post later.

On all my characters I've not chosen to kill any companions or love interests. The only one I was forced to kill was Torian, only because my Sith Warrior was given no other choice, and as a level-V light aligned character, it sat ill with her that she was forced to do it or cast Vette to the wolves. Vette was part of her original crew, so it came down to having to choose to let one of the two die - someone who for years had been a true friend for my warrior, or a new friend who had proven his worth and loyalty to her. If I had been the story teller, neither of them would have died. I am also annoyed about the fact that Lana was there to wake my warrior out of carbonite. If she had been half the spy she claimed to be she would have known that my warrior's husband Quinn was incarcerated in an Imperial prison, got him out, and ensured that he was part of the rescue team. The fact that Quinn languished in an imperial prison for so long with neither Theran or Lana knowing about it is ridiculous and a plot hole that should have been identified at the structural editing stage. I maintain that at least one original crew member should have been part of the rescue team. So now, all the companions that my characters cared about are either bricked or completely awol. Their stories have ended sooner than expected and I cannot progress their stories any further in the game. It is like I wrote a novel, submitted it to the editor, who then tore out all of my end-story pages, and then rewrote completely different endings, without consulting me. I am just one storyteller in this game, everyone else has their own stories, and most of those stories have been edited and rewritten by BioWare without consultation and with the subtly of a sledgehammer. The only ones who seem pleased about 5.10 are those who have Lana as their love interest. To say I am unimpressed is putting it mildly.

Haha, well given your past and very vocal disagreement with anything and everything relating to the Alliance, Ylliarus, I'd be highly surprised if you weren't over the moon enthaustic with 5.10. For myself, everything that would have kept me playing forward in the story has either been broken or removed, so I see no point in going further. If my characters' stories end at Etermal Throne, then so be it. I'll play until I lose interest and maybe, return if a future story goes in a way that I like.

I had real-life and university commitments leading up to and during 5.10’s release so I stepped away from the game for a few weeks. However, now that I have a little more time to spare I’ve decided to avoid 5.10 entirely, possibly for good, or possibly until 6.0 releases, which would hopefully bring some improvements to the story. If not. Then I’ll play until my interest wanes then cancel my sub. My reasons: All the bugs that broke the Companions. Missing Quinn for Warriors who went Republic (a bug which would affect my main). All the other bugs. Alliance not a real third faction. Much too much Lana. Forced return to Republic vs Empire. As a subscriber and a solo casual gamer I’m happy to continue to play the old content. I have one character only that is 5.10 ready (my Sith Warrior). My Jedi Knight is part-way through Fallen Empire, and all my other 70’s have either just begun SoR or need to begin it. One will not progress to Fallen Empire because her love interest has would have gone permanently AWOL (Vector) and my Sith Inquisitor will stop before the traitor arc so Theron (her love interest) will remain active. Currently I’m slowly levelling a Jedi Consular and having fun with my Rishi stronghold. If BioWare decides to create an Odessen stronghold then that would be very cool and I’d be first in line to buy one. One thing I have done is gain the Alliance Commander title for my girls, which was an achievement that I particularly wanted. So for 5.10, nah I think not. It would be a regression of the story and my enjoyment in the game would be likewise diminished.

Lana's preeminent role in the last expansions and content doesn't really make sense from a storytelling aspect. Lana shouldn't have been the one to waken our characters from carbonite, our primary love interest should have been assigned that role with Lana or Theron (depending on our faction) assisting. Likewise, my understanding that Lana's continuing major role as the mission giver to the Alliance Commander again doesn't make sense. The Alliance Commander should be talking directly with the diplomatic representatives of the Republic or the Empire. Not getting second hand information from someone else. All I can assume is that Lana is the developer's golden child, their 'sacred cow' which, unlike all the other love interests, won't be killed off, vanished into the aether (Quinn) or otherwise bricked away, their stories terminated before their time. And yes, it is getting to the stage that I too (who previously had no real opinion about Lana) is now heartily sick of her special status.

Instead of moaning - head over to the Fan Fiction forum and read some of the offerings there to help pass the time.

This is the most active the forums have been in...well, forever.

Perhaps the Devs will find Quinn in the same hidey-hole that the Server List has gone AWOL in?

I'm not certain if my Rishi Stronghold is private or public. However, if anyone wants to take a peek at it then message me here and if it's private then I'll open it up for you. My decorating probably wouldn't win any awards but it might give someone an idea or two.

- An Odessen Stronghold - Alliance as a viable third faction complete with Fleet-style infrastructure (only based underground rather than in space) - Previous love interests de-bricked and given new speech and working lips. - Give us a choice of the companions we'd like to be our crew on our star ships. - Please increase the number of hooks (including companion and npc hooks) in our fortresses. - Employ competent writers who can write interesting new story lines and by all that is holy, hire decent structural editors to fix plot holes. - A West Coast server. If you are running out of story ideas, watch the Shadow War episodes from Babylon 5.

Yup - it's also why I've made the conscious decision to not activate 5.10 on any of my characters. All my characters are either mid-Alliance content or haven't reached it yet. When they reach it they will all proudly wear the Alliance Commander title which Sul my Warrior won for her family. They will only progress to the new content when the Alliance regains its proper place in the galaxy. If it never happens, then my subscription ends. Just like that. In the meantime I have alts to create and take through to Odessen.

I am an Australian player. I'm not sure what my ping is but I know that most of the time the in-game latency shows either one bar (with an occasional two bars) often sliding into red dot territory. Then suddenly the game stalls to a red -X stop and if I am lucky, a minute or two later my character resumes in a flurry of actions once the blockage has passed, usually however the game crashes back to desktop. I am running a brand new, super-fast laptop - Predator Helios 500, so I know it's not substandard hardware. I am however based in country NSW - so my connection has to go from regional NSW>Sydney>Across the Pacific>West Coast America>however many hops across the USA>East Coast servers. This is why I choose to solo in-game.

Story - Sith Inquisitor Gameplay - Sith Warrior LI Companion - Sith Warrior (Quinn)

It's already 2019 here in OZ. My resolution for this year is to follow the advice of the song: Don't worry, be happy.

I disliked the move back to Republic vs Empire and so although I 'could' play the new content, I refuse to do so, and so my lv70s' play either out of the Alliance HQ or my fortress. I have finally achieved for my characters the title Alliance Commander which I am pleased about. Perhaps some day I will play the new content, but I suspect that given my real life time commitments that day will be many months away. So I remain playing the content that I enjoy and not the story that Bioware would force upon me. As for my deal breaker - total unplayable latency and too frequent dropouts. p.s. After reading about all the bugs and broken companions in 5.10, I'm heartily glad that I remained playing Alliance content and progressing no further. At least my light-side lv70 Sith warrior and Alliance Commander still has her husband Quinn by her side.

Try being an Aussie player and subscriber... Being forced to play on an East Coast server (and Europe would be even worse) with constant latency is the big reason why I solo my way through the game. To the original poster - you complain, but keep in mind that others have far worse gaming experiences due to EA/Bioware decisions.

With no guarantee that the Alliance will continue and for those who want to skip straight to 5.10 and with companions chosen for us based on faction rather than alignment - well, I won't be hurrying to experience this new content.