I got that after, we need a sarcasmica 12pt font.

Nope, they're both MMOs. Comparing the two is natural and correct; they're competing products with competitive price points.

My point is (though I rambled horribly) I think the whole analogy is strained, there is no philosophy in the mechanics that were left out of SWTOR. "Don't know how" and "Don't have time" aren't decisions, they're situations. There is more stuff listed as "post-launch" than you can shake a stick at, this is a pretty clear indication that these aren't philosophical decisions at all, these are adaptations to time constraints. There is no parallel to be drawn.

The only problem I see with all this is that if they take away bolster and make separate queues for pre-made groups and PUGs then PvP will stop. Server populations in this game are quite small and PvPers are a minority in all MMOs. The pitfall is that there may just not be anywhere near enough of a community on each server to maintain a strong PvP rotation. People not being able to do what they want to do is what causes subscription to start to leak. I know, I know everyone should be OK with two hours waiting to do whatever they pay to do, but people who say that have serious priority problems.

That's really offensive. It's every 30 seconds.

But Microsoft is a vastly more ethical company than Apple. Not to mention that Bill Gates is a kindly saint to Steve Job's baby munching demon. You have a bad analogy there. Now if you just mean being cool to the sheeple then yeah, you have a point. But that's a delusion brought on by blind devotion coupled with irrational hatred, just like Apple and Microsoft. Bioware is EA, Blizzard is Activision. There's no hero to be found. I don't think development philosophies are even compatible.

I think F2P/freemium is the future. These companies could make so much more money from the model. In 2010 I read that WoW had over 80,000,000 inactive and trial accounts, imagine how much money they would have made if they had squeezed just $10 out of each of them on top of the money they get from their premium subscription players. I am betting that all MMOs will be following some version of freemium or even in game cash sinks (real cash) like auction houses etc to make their money.

Agreed, I think "answers" is far too strong a word. Perhaps should call it "Stephen Reid discusses some questions but doesn't answer any". We all know he really can't answer many questions, mostly because he's not a developer nor is it wise to even remotely promise anything to this community or even hint at something.

Absolutely you can, and it's not really much more difficult to do so. The only thing you need to keep in mind is that on PvP servers you are food. Healing is weak enough in this game that a lone healer isn't much better than a target dummy. Now a group with a healer is a different story.

Old world charm.

I noticed it still makes money, just not the ship loads it used to. But this is a nerf, and a nerf, is a nerf, is a nerf. Forums is forums, over the top whining and complaining are part of the nerfing process.

A little button in your preferences that says "Toggle PvP Autoflag". It's been standard issue in MMOs for five years, it prevents you from healing flagged friendlies or AoEing flagged hostiles by accident. But this game isn't as advanced as WoW, Rift, or EQ2 in terms of game-play systems. It makes up for that by kicking *** in other areas, I think. People need to chill out, Rift was about the most bland MMO ever made when it launched, it was all systems and no flash but with devotion and effort from the developers it has evolved into a wonderful MMO. There is absolutely no reason TOR couldn't become something truly special over the coming months. Especially since it's working from a base that emphasises something that has needed more attention in MMOs since... NWN.

There is four inches of Coruscant that doesn't have hand rails, and I couldn't tell you the times I've walked right off the edge. I find it endlessly amusing as well. One gap, any gap, and I'll find a way to die there.

It's not just the Star Wars thing, Bioware did a seriously awesome job with the combat sounds in this game.

I'm glad this thread is around, well with the exception of the standard personal attacks that come with a Star Wars community. I was starting to think I was insane seeing this odd pseudo-lag. It kind of makes things feel clunky, like very clunky. Almost like you have to shake the server to wake it up every time you want to do something. I wouldn't call it a huge deal but it does feel strange.

This reminds me of the SWG and WoW communities bundled up into one. It's a unique dynamic. But yeah, four days is pushing it a little aggressively.

Don't worry about fighting over it. They may tow the company line with LFG hate but lay-offs change minds fast. Wait three months and see what happens, right now everyone is close to the same level and groups are happening. If the game does great after four months without it then cool, we were wrong. If it crashes we can blame this, that, or the other thing. Time will tell.

I thought it was the LFG tool. Or wait, it was arenas... No no, it was PvP battlegrounds... NO! It was every other great feature that the WoW-hating-wannabe-kool-kids all harp about to gain e-thug cred with the rest of their little cabal of livestock.

There has to be some sort of system to mitigate this problem, maybe if we allowed players to fulfil more than one roll on a single character, perhaps some sort of twin specialisation. A dual specialisation mechanic, if you will I am surprised that no game has tried this before, it could revolutionise the MMO. Another thing they could do is design some kind of in-game application that allows people to "LFG" while they are doing other things and enjoying themselves, perhaps an automated one of some sort. A system where you select a role and then simply move on to your quests and adventuring while you wait for a group to become available. Everyone needs to do research to see if any other game has done this sort of stuff before. Bioware clearly didn't have time.