Bioware, You Want to Resuscitate This Game? Then Implement The Following.

[MargulisAZ]

Note: This is simply a list of issues that we all recognize exist. We all want the best for SW:TOR which is why we bought it in the first place, and if Bioware wants send a signal that it is dedicated to this game, then it would be wise to begin communicating and recognizing issues.

 

Edit: I am now understanding that some people disagree with the premise that this thread begins with: that the game is in need of "resuscitation." Please ignore that point momentarily if you disagree.

 

Well, for those of who may know me (because they despise me) from my rampant pre-launch criticisms of this game, including ones derived from beta experience, it's happening. Most of the beta testers' concerns were not addressed, and that leaves us with the current state of the game.

 

SW:TOR is a game with great potential. That being said, MMOs only get one shot, and this is SW:TOR's. Bioware MUST implement the following (a consolidated list of fixes that I have heard demanded by numerous people within the community) before the free 30 days game-time period ends.

 

THE LIST:

 

- Chat bubbles (with the option to disable for those of us who are introverted within the community, myself included.)

- Add a combat log. I will say this again. ADD A COMBAT LOG. IT IS A *MUST!* A combat log is needed for damage/healing/tank mitigation parses. If you are serious about having guilds progress in non-mediocre PvE content, these are essential.

- ADD TARGET OF TARGET into the game. Over-haul the UI in general.

- Fix bugs in general, but most importantly the ones pertaining to the mail system (where an item can be lost forever if the bug occurs.)

- Add FOCUS TARGETS.

- Add a fail safe (purchase confirmation) to item purchases and skill learns. Many people have lost commendations/credits for accidentally misclicking while using a high-sensitivity/DPI mouse and purchasing the wrong item.

- Overhaul the auction house system (GTN.) Add a search option, remove the 50 item limit on your auctions, and add bid/buyout functionality that isn't feudalistic and outdated.

- SERVER FORUMS. THIS IS A MUST TO ENSURE THAT A STRONG SERVER-COMMUNITY MANIFESTS ITSELF!

- More camera options. THE OPTION TO DISABLE "SMART CAMERA PIVOT" SHOULD BE IMPLEMENTED!

- Implement a threat parse so that tanks can actually gage how much threat they have on targets. Right now, they are in the dark and they have a disproportionally stressful job. I can personally testify that I don't know a single person, nor do I think such a person exists or is common, that appreciates the current system of things pertaining to threat.

- An LFG system over-haul. I'm not saying it should be automated and teleport you to the location of whatever it is you're doing like WoW does, but there needs to be increased support for this. Perhaps introducing a channel with some extra features dedicated to creating groups would do it.

- Improve your servers so that you do not have to create two separate instances for a mere 50 people in a SINGLE sub-zone. That is just asinine and removes the social/community atmosphere from the game. I bought an MMORPG, not a single-player Mass Effect RPG.

- Fix accessibility to PvP gear. As it stands, many are reporting it is MUCH TOO EASY to acquire.

- Allow people to queue for SPECIFIC WARZONES.

- ADD MACROS.

- A customizable UI with third party add-on support. All healers (experienced healers) that I know cringe at the lack of a customizable UI. Click-to-heal made healing fun. Bioware MUST implement this.

- >>>>>>>Ensure mouse-over heal support.<<<<<<<

- A fix to optimization issues. Great machines are not running this game so great.

- A fix to delay issues that are not related to latency. People have "50 ms" latency and have a 3-4 second delay on select abilities.

- Better customer support. Hire MORE people, HAND THEM a company policy book, and GET them helping people out. No excuse for not having enough people when you knew how much traffic there would be on launch day.

- Buy a better swtor.com server. No reason why your WEBSITE should have queues when practically every MMO, including ones that have been less or more successful, did not have queues at launch, nevermind post-launch.

- Increase the number of players allowed on a server. Don't hide subscription numbers by artificially inflating server size. Reportedly, only 2000-2500 players are allowed per server, which is horrible. Bump that number up significantly, even if it is done gradually, or you're in trouble. The game world is already pretty empty in some places as is.

- Re-instate the appearance unifier, even if temporarily. No reason why a battle-hardened Trooper should look literally like a clown with a rain-bow themed assortment of ballistic armor plates.

- Have community managers COMMUNICATE to the player base that Bioware understands our issues and is working diligently on fixing them. As of now, it appears as though y'all are pretending NOTHING is wrong. Wake up.

- Dissolve the universal PvP bracket. Put in SPECIALIZED PvP brackets instead. A 1-49 bracket and then a 50 bracket would be a great start, but preferrably, just do a 1-30, 30-49, and then a 50 bracket. If the player base grows further (big if here), then dissect the brackets further and specialize them to an even greater extent. A level 50 has much more utility and more abilities in its arsenal than a level 15. Even if they have the same stats, that is UNFAIR because the level 50 has a vested advantage. That's why there should always be brackets, albeit with the boost system retained.

- Work towards providing the PvP community with something with more longevity and something that fosters community. That something is an arena system with arena maps. This would go a LONG way for the PvP community.

- Address content-related player concerns. Let us know what the horizon is bringing, and by this I mean, RELEASE MORE OPERATIONS/WARZONES and RATED WARZONES and give us an estimated time of arrival that is not too far off.

- A space overhaul. Not sure if the Hero engine can handle it, but space combat is just abysmal after the first few flying sortees. Something closer to SWG space but IMPROVED because this is 2011 and not 2004 would be required.

 

 

 

Let me know if I missed something. The aforementioned were the most common issues presented to myself by other members of this community.

 

 

If you support this list or want to petition me to add something to it, please say so.

 

TL;DR: pick a random spot on the list and read it. See if you agree.

 

 

That's the list. It's your choice to make this game or break it, Bioware.

Ball's in your court.

It's a check, but will it be a check-mate?

 

Damn good list actually - I would add the following to the already massive list:

 

1. Fix the combat ability delay

2. Add TONS more guild functions to the SEVERELY lacking system.

3. Improve character creation.3

4. *** MAKE THE WORLD FEEL ALIVE!!! *** Add creatures, more ambient sounds and npc conversations - have the npc's MOVE around and do more than just wave their arms back and forth for the love of god!

5. Improve pathing for mobs, there are hardly any patrols, almost all mob groups are just stuck in place! WAYYYYY more than most mmo's.

6. Add a day / night cycle.

7. Improve the water graphics!!! When you are in water if you pan your camera from underneath it looks RIDICULOUS because it's just a blue texture placed over an empty hole!

8. Improve the life and atmosphere of cantinas.

9. Agreed for the love of all that is holy KILL the zone instancing!!!!!!!!!

9. Improve the armor textures and designs so many are horrible.

10. Give us SOMETHING to do besides just the bare bones questing, pvp, dungeons. Give us a real achievement system or collection system like EQ2 and RIFT. Give us SOMETHING.

11. Hire GM's for your servers, give us some REAL customer service!!! So far it's been the worst I've ever seen with all tickets closed with no resolution!!

12. Add a search function to the forums!

13. Bring back the ability to see former posts on the forums!

 

That's all I've got so far....... good grief this game needs a LOT of work.

Edited January 3, 2012 by MargulisAZ

[ElmirBDS]

Storyline is all good and well...

 

But this ui dates back from the stoneage...

 

No mods is a real downer for me, mainly because i don't like the basic outlay of this ui to begin with. I have rolled a healer as a first toon in every "major mmo" (if there is such a thing) since wow and this actually feels like I have gone back in time to a healer experience I did not care for to begin with.

 

Allow mods, pls.

[CptZeal]

Because the OP knows exactly what everyone in this game wants... right?

 

Seriously, shut your yap and play the game. Or don't. I don't care. They have the first content patch next month already. Why don't we just wait and see what happens before we start the hyperbole and melodrama?

 

Having more options is bad... right?

[ArcantosTrios]

I've always found the "IT HAS 1 MILLIONZ SUBS!" argument hilarious.

 

I found it hilarious when it was the "Age of Conan sold 700,000 preorders!" argument.

 

I also found it hilarious when it was the "Warhamer Online sold 1.3 Million copies in the first 2 weeks!" argument.

 

I also seem to remember similar arguments made for Aion and Rift.

 

The part that has always bothered me however is that usually the people who use this argument are the same ones telling people to quit or "go back to WoW." Kinda hard for an MMO to stay healthy when everyone quits...

 

Here's a hint rabid fanboys, the people complaining and asking for changes are the people who actually care about the game. If people hate it enough to leave, chances are they are already gone. You on the other hand are asking for people, who care enough about the game to voice their opinion on how to make it better, to leave and stop making suggestions because it somehow hurt your feelings to find out that the game isn't perfect.

Edited January 3, 2012 by ArcantosTrios

[SykeoMantis]

agree with most the list buttttt before most of the list comes ii would like to see more bug fixes and at least somthing on legacy at the moment it seems like an after thought that they are not quite sure wat to do with yet... but some sort of threat alert would be nice ... i would hope the major bugs like the bounty hunter story line for example and the last boss in foundry bugging stuff like that will be gone within the next 2 months

[Fireline]

ITT: baddies that dont want their game changed because it would require an higher skillcap, thus reveling how bad they actually are

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

/ flame on

[NevesNET]

Too funny, seeing all the names like the OP who were endlessly bashing the game for months and months on the forums before launch still bought the game.

THIS

 

QQ ... I just came here to see scheduled maintenance times, but had to read a few lines from one of the biggest whiners in beta. Yet another reason not to come to official forums. Why buy the game that is going to fail so hard unless they implement your bug fixes and some other suggestions asap? Every game losses players after the initial month is up, doesn't take a genius such as yourself to figure out why; perhaps, you should put all that knowledge to some proper and good use.

[TheHauntingBard]

Most of these features should have been in a hot key based MMO that was released end 2011.

SWTOR has a nice story and all but in the end but it's very close EQ/EQ2/WOW/Rift and insert every other standard hotkey based MMO.

 

Even if you don't want to touch add ons as a company it's a no brainer to find out UI customizations are very popular amongst WOW Platers, more options is a good thing.

Just like in EQ it was pretty normal to have a parser. to check performance.

 

Combat log is also something basic along with being able to put the smart camera off.

 

 

But obvious in what six years of development and market research this wasn't considered important.

No what we needed was the poor mans version of Star Fox.

Patching these things isn't a mercy gift, they should have been in the freaking game.

 

 

All I see is a quick cash grab at this moment.

[Debiru]

Well, I read your entire post, and purely because your guild is growing does not indicate anything. That is anecdotal evidence, and does not represent the over-all subscriber-based trend that SW:TOR is experiencing at all. Who knows, perhaps those new-comers had their previous guilds die off and are now being consolidated into your guild due to a random stroke of luck?

 

LOL, anectodal and opinoions, this is the exact thing you have been doing this whole thread.

 

sayign this game loosing sub vast majority etc, its pure and simple BS. you provide NO facts, do you know why? becouse WE done have ANY facts, we got eduvated gueses by others.

 

EA keeps subs and purchase numbers close to theire chests, so we dont know.

 

So in fact you just spout the same crap you accuse others off GG.

 

And if some one will provide you whit facts that this game is actualy doing verry well (and the educated gueses by ppl in possitions to do them, suggest THE GAME DOES GRATE), you will just blow them off as anything you can claim, you apperently decided that this game is fail, and got the need to enlighten everyone else, since us who enjoy the game are just missguided.

[prozbeast]

I agree with all of them, except for the PVP gear *fix*. PVP gear should be accessible to everyone in order to keep both sides as balanced as possible.

[Brenner]

You again?

 

Really?

 

As if trolling the beta forums before the wipe wasn't enough you feel the need to do this again?

[Agenteusa]

If you implement your list you´ll end up with Wow, so you mmight wanna check out the other aisle

 

And please YOU (OP) stop acting like you´re some kind of prophet of light and start presenting solutions/ideas for solvable problems not concept/design problems.

 

YOU have no idea what goes into sloving a lot of s*** you just posted.

[Shortwave]

You again?

 

Really?

 

As if trolling the beta forums before the wipe wasn't enough you feel the need to do this again?

 

 

 

My apologies as this is somewhat off topic: But I saw a few people in game mentioning another forum wipe. Can anyone confirm this?

[Bielduwyn]

I'm not really sure why people need threat/DPS meters, I manage to keep aggro off me without one, you just develop a sense for it as you play the game.

 

Same with combat logs, I quite enjoy the fact that we currently don't have theory crafting and endless number crunching, just play the damn game and enjoy it. If you enjoy numbers so much go into economics.

[Brenner]

My apologies as this is somewhat off topic: But I saw a few people in game mentioning another forum wipe. Can anyone confirm this?

 

They wiped the forums right before Early Access.

 

Xugos had many doom and gloom and relatively unconstructive posts on the beta forums and it seems he is continuing now.

[Mandrax]

Originally Posted by Xugos

Well, I read your entire post, and purely because your guild is growing does not indicate anything. That is anecdotal evidence, and does not represent the over-all subscriber-based trend that SW:TOR is experiencing at all. Who knows, perhaps those new-comers had their previous guilds die off and are now being consolidated into your guild due to a random stroke of luck?

 

What overall subscriber-based trends? Where are you getting this information from? Please post your source so that we can all become enlightened.

 

We know you can't however, because you making it all up.

Edited January 3, 2012 by Mandrax

[Avia]

So uh, basically, turn this game into wow?

[controlla]

Because the OP knows exactly what everyone in this game wants... right?

 

Seriously, shut your yap and play the game. Or don't. I don't care. They have the first content patch next month already. Why don't we just wait and see what happens before we start the hyperbole and melodrama?

 

You idiot, so we are just supposed to not say ANYTHING and not give any tips on how to improve the game? Please, think before you open your fanboy mouth again.

[PercuroNex]

Here we go with the Elitist's demands....give me this or else. You have to be doing this much damage and use this build or you can't join our pro raid group.

[cyco]

most of the things listed i can wait for, im not too worried atm, jsut enjoying the game. What is bothering me though is how dead the servers feel. I'm on swiftsure and even when we are full places just feel empty (More for republic it seems)

 

Wouldnt mind if servers cap was increased to allow for a lot more players per server. I don't need 200 servers to make me feel all special inside, I'd rather have fewer servers with high caps to make the places within the game feel alive.

[CrayonOfDoom]

The major ones that are killing me as a healer in NM EV:

Raid frames suck:

 

• No buff/debuff highlighting.
  
• Mousewheel doesn't work when hovering over a unitframe.
  
• Complete lack of customizability short of 2 tiny options.
  
• No mouseover/click healing.
  
• Often don't update correctly.
  

 

 

Ability misfires(?):

Casting immediately after a GCD/Spamming an ability results in the ability not firing off anywhere from rarely to often. This is unacceptable as a healer. No questions there. No reason to invoke a GCD if the ability isn't going to go off.

 

Killer delay:

Spells like kolto missile have such a long animation that accurately hitting a target with them is a problem.

 

Lack of smart healing:

Kolto missile and any finite number heal doesn't pick targets that are low. Kolto missile is useless in a pack of too many people unless every single person is hurt.

 

One dimensional healing:

Use heals on cooldown. If everything's on cooldown, use more expensive non-cooldown heals. Rinse/repeat.

 

I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting.

[Helgrave]

I completely agree with the OP. These are all things that I have been missing.

 

Make it happen.

[supZ]

i totally agree with every point the OP has made.

 

perhaps only agree with 80% of some of the details but every point raised needs to be addressed imo.

 

would like to add one more.

 

# allow self cast on alt/shift/ctrl (whatever the user chooses)

 

having to select yourself and losing your target whilst you shield/heal yourself is painful and annoying. so many times i've gone to shield myself as i've pulled aggro only to shield my comp. and then i've gotta wait for the c/d to shield myself. its frustrating.

 

personally, the key things that are frustrating me currently are:

 

# target of target

not knowing what mob the tank is hitting in a big group is highly frustrating. you end up tabbing around trying to find the one thats taking the most dmg.

 

# lack of macro support

i am a macro mad person. i am not a 'clicker' i much prefer pressing buttons and having multiple skills available on one button via shift/ctrl/alt/enemy/friendly modifiers. i have done the best i can with the default ui (my left bar is full of keybindings) but having to have all your abilities on your bars taking up space is something id rather not have. looks cluttered.

 

# ui layout

this is really an add-on thing but not being able to change the ui, (even allowing scaling would be something!!) is horrible. even the main and 2nd bar turned on is too big imo let alone the left and right ones. takes up so much space. which is ironic as the char/target information is quite hard to see due to the colouring of the text and bars.

 

obviously add-on support (which is coming as far as i know) will help solve this but honestly id be happy with ui scaling and the ability to move the 2nd bar above the main one instead of below it would be a great start..

 

# knockbacks

this is more a mob position/pathing issue. ive had a few problems with this and one of my mates had a full on rage moment on his sniper with this. basically, if mobs are standing close to ledges they can be knocked off them. on the face of it this is kinda amusing but when you realise they can survive silly fall distances then bug out and hit you without you being able to hit them it gets annoying. my mates snipe has a knockback function and he was having a full on rage as his class quest elite kept being knocked off a ledge, out of his LOS and was killing his comp. and there was nothing he could do about it. ive had similar annoyances in group quests where someones knocked a pack off a ledge and then we get stuck in combat unable to kill them. not really sure how you can fix this one but it is a tricky one. personally i've taken to angling myself in a certain way if im going to use my sorc's overload but when abilities have knockbacks like the snipers one does its near impossible to do is.

 

apart from that im pretty happy. other than the various bugs like yesterday my comp. wouldnt walk through a doorway or off some lifts and bugged out. there's also a point in the middle of the floor past one of the hangers in the imperial fleet that if i walk past i get stuck on the spot until i jump around to find the point i can free myself. happened a few times now. i've had a few other issues too but tbh i expect things like this from a new game so im not bothered as i know they'll be fixed. its the issues above that are really frustrating me and i hope solutions are coming.

[Mandrax]

You idiot, so we are just supposed to not say ANYTHING and not give any tips on how to improve the game? Please, think before you open your fanboy mouth again.

 

I agree that making suggestions is fine, but I don't think making threats based on figures that are made up in one's head, holds any worth whatsoever.

[Shortwave]

They wiped the forums right before Early Access.

 

Xugos had many doom and gloom and relatively unconstructive posts on the beta forums and it seems he is continuing now.

 

Yeah, the people in game were pretty much saying the forums were broken (search feature and whatnot), and that it's filled with a bunch of vitriol, so the mods, or whoever pulls the strings here, were going to do a wipe. I don't know if they are or are not. I was just wondering if someone else heard of this.

 

In other words, can anyone confirm or deny a second forum wipe?