On the Two Fundamental Issues of SWTOR's Success

[Shaede]

I am sad to report that I will not continue to subscribe to SWTOR. It has little to do with this patch, though that didn't help anything.

 

I can only hope that Bioware reads and considers threads like this. Ultimately, though, the community can do very little to influence the direction of an MMO other than cancelling one's account. Personally, I do so not out of spite or in some vain attempt to send a message to the SWTOR team, but out of the simple desire to move on. This game has offered all it can to me.

 

For reference, I leveled an Imperial Agent to level 50 before making this decision. I could write about the experience at 50 for as long, or longer, than the experience to 50. It was, as warned, a jarring change of pace for the worse. Though, in the end I am glad to have gotten a character through the fantastic class story, I am sad that this high budget MMO could not offer enough to keep me going to even the second month.

 

In the end, I wish this game could have been more. I waited for it for years in the hope that Bioware would redefine the MMO, or at the least, steer it in a different direction than all the other MMOs competing for a slice of the market. Sadly, they did not. I might come again if they do, but by then it will probably be too late. With games like Guild Wars 2 and Diablo 3 on the horizon, I don't see much hope for a game like this. Nonetheless, its not entirely hopeless. As I see it, though, where SWTOR stands in relation to where it needs to be isn't much closer than it was 5 years ago. That makes me think that this entire project might be a catastrophic failure. I am both a Bioware and Star Wars fanboy. After having given SWTOR a chance in the (full) beta and release, I can honestly say that I feel the same way about SWTOR as I do Star Wars Episode 1-3. Though I still like Bioware and Star Wars, I am ashamed by some of the products that have come from both.

 

Good luck to you all. I hope that my distress doesn't cause you to dislike SWTOR, but at the same time, I hope it helps you understand why someone might.

[goatkeeper]

This is THE POST since this forum exists. Thanks a lot to the OP. Very interesting thread to read, which also keepe me awake at that time (5AM in Paris)

[Truffula]

 

An MMO is really two different games. Yeah, there are lots of people going through the same story you are, and you will likely encounter them out and about in the world. But in the story, you are the only one who matters. It takes some suspension of disbelief, as do all of the other issues I named above, but the ability to suspend this disbelief also nets you the ability to group with friends, chat with your guild, and kill the same bosses over and over to progress your character. It's just the way MMOs work.

 

Not all MMOs are like this, but the Everquest/WoW lineage of them is (the DikuMUD, most popular type). Mostly agreed given that caveat

 

SWTOR has managed to really pull off the RPG part amazingly. The World part is less impressive. To me, the world part is just fun enough to make entertaining interims between the storyline parts.

 

I never managed to get interested in the Mass Effect and similar games because their game parts were less to my taste (my husband loves those and plays them over and over, and I tried them out a few times... really hated the by the book D20 play in KOTOR. Dragon Age was almost tolerable for me but the main storyline was too similar between classes). The real time but pretty easy fighting type thing seen in SWTOR is more at my level. The companions make a real difference too, balancing your soloing much better and more simply.

 

Convenience wise, I even kind of prefer to have an online game because it means I don't have to keep the CD in the drive =D

[Amelyssan]

this is by far the best written summary of how I see SWTOR too.

 

gave it 5 stars too, people should read this, especially the owners of this forum.

 

combining and mmo with a singleplayer game created a mutated abomination that became the outcome of none of the good, and the only thing Bioware can do now, is damage control and hope to maintain a niche game.

 

Nothing more.

[zuile]

Personally I don't think the story clashes with the nature of mmos, okay so there are 58 Darth Nox/Imperius etc in same zone as you whatever I know there are millions of commander Shepards too yet that doesn't dent my ME enjoyment, you just need the right attitude to deal with it, there's no other way of solving that problem in an MMO. Good post by the OP though.

[Azzras]

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[WesleyJanson]

I didn't pay attention to the dates of the posts until just now, I thought this was a recent post but this is from January.

 

 

 

I remember when Operatives/Scoundrels were nerfed, they were devastated that their class was ruined, regardless of balance, they didn't want to play anymore because it wasn't fun. Now my Merc healer was destroyed and, regardless of balance, I'm not having fun anymore.

 

 

Thread is so true