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

[origional]

 

Bioware MUST implement the following

 

THE LIST:

 

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

 

Don't see how this is a must. It's a useful feature to help along the social aspect of the game and it has some benefit in group play but you have to be a bit of a muppet to quit a game because it doesnt have chat bubbles. I can honestly say their abscence has not caused me one single problem in playing this game. No deffinately not a must.

 

- 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.

 

Again, nice feature buit not a must and to be honest not desirable. What will happen is some sad basement dwelling nerds will start excluding people from playing the game because they dont have enough healing or enough dps. Pathetic gear score scumbags not required thank you very much.

 

- ADD TARGET OF TARGET into the game.

 

Again, nice feature but not a must. Its not hard to target someone elses target, You have a thing called eyes, look at who they are attacking, and then attack them. The glowing lightsabers and the laser beams make it real easy for you.

 

- 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.)

 

Yes, click your heels together three times and say The Bugs Are Fixed, The Bugs are Fixed and they will all just go away. I would imagine they are working on them and they will be fixed when they are fixed.

 

- 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.

 

Not a must in anyway shape or form. Learn to be more careful. Its only a game, if you make a mistake and lose some credits the bailifs arnt going to come round and reposses your house.

 

- 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a search option, remove the 50 item limit on your auctions, and add bid/buyout functionality that isn't feudalistic and outdated.

 

Reduce the limit to 25. Stops people farming. Heck, make it 10.

 

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

 

SERVER FORUMS WILL NOT MAKE STRONG COMMUNITIES. THEY HELP, BUT THE GAME NEEDS MORE THAN THAT. TYPING IN CAPS MIGHT DO IT THOUGH

 

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

 

You know, the first thing I though when I logged in to this game was OMG NOT ENOUGH CAMERA OPTIONS. Actually thats a lie. No I didnt and at no point on any subsequent day did I think that.

 

- 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.

 

Am I doing enough threat? Are the mobs hitting me or someone else? I know these yes or no problems can be challenging for some people but again, dont see it as a must.

 

- 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.

 

So you want a social game where everyone talks but you want to take away about the only thing you ever see people talking about in the game. Again, nice feature but hardly a must. People are manging to type, LFG Nerds Basement and people are managing to type, I'll come (cos every sane human wants to kill nerds, thats 99.99 re-occuring of course fact.)

 

- 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.

 

No, you THOUGHT you were buying an MMORPG - fooled ya

 

 

I'll call it quits there as it was such a long list of whining. None, NONE, of what you posted is a 'MUST' for the game. This game works. Its playable. We dont need same thing different skin, this isnt and never should be WOW in Space. What you've listed is your preferences. They may be other peoples preferences as well but the only time something MUST be done is when something is broken or there is an inbalance that makes the game unplayable. We dont have that in any significant way.

 

Some of the things you've listed would be nice to have and can be added over time. NONE of it was essential. If you dont like teh game shuffle on. I dont like wow that much, so I dont play it. This game doesnt have problems, it has potential.

 

[Woulfgar]

i dont agree with your own point of view but the elements you actualy talked about yea +1

[DaxRendar]

The fact that you don't want add-ons implemented speaks volumes. They in NO WAY affect you. They are totally optional, and are a way for the community to customize their UI so that it fits their requirements...

 

Don't like add-ons? Then don't use them.

 

Need Addons? Don't play this game

 

(Trust me, it'll keep doing fine without you )

 

I don't want someone arbitrarily dictating the method in which I play.

 

Hmm... hypocrite much?

[Zeppelin]

While some of these are needed... most are just "nice to have". The game isn't dying, it just needs some minor polish.

[Jalliah]

Have just started playing the game so haven't experienced tons yet. Haven't run into any bugs yet so we'll see. So far there are some things on the list that I agree would be great to improve (mostly around the UI) and an improved way of grouping. Don't care much about PVP but I know some people do. None of it for me is 'gamebreaking' or makes me dislike the game overall. I did play some beta so knew what I was getting into.

 

Just wanted to mainly comment about a lot of comparisons being made with 'Wow' and comments along the lines of people will just quit and go back to 'WOW' if some of the "WOW' like features that many I think are used too aren't implemented.

 

While I understand that "WOW' is the big fish when it comes to MMOs there is a segment of MMO players that really could care less about WOW or making comparisons to WOW. I belong to that segment and the majority of people I game with on other games (and have been doing so for some time) are the same. I did play it for 3 months a while back and quit because I simply lost interest in regularly playing it. Wasn't for me.

 

A number of people I know who are now playing this game and for the most part enjoying it. (enjoying doesn't mean there are no complaints whatsoever) If in the long run this enjoyment stops for whatever reason there is no 'going back to WOW'. There is just no thinking about WOW or WOW does this or that blah blah at all. There is a segment of fairly hardcore MMOS (hardcore to me means playing them tons for years) who really could give 2 %^^$ about WOW.

 

If SWOTOR doesn't please in the long term then it isn't "WOW". It's either another game or just no MMO at all until one comes along that's enjoyable and engaging enough to play a subscription fee month after month.

 

So yeah this is just a comment from the "I could care less about WOW doing this or that' segment of the overall MMO game playing peeps.

[Blynks]

Read the whole thing and while I agree with some of these, the majority just reads "Make this game exactly like World of Warcraft". Only you occasionally wrote in all caps for some points, for some reason.

[DDNitz]

I support everything the OP said. The only thing I would add is a dual spec option. It would be nice to switch depending on what the group needed.

[Delro]

I think it does, actually. Only time will tell.

 

But for the same reason Obama won the last election. Lots of people liked Obama, because he was a decent candidate to them. However, lots of people were tired of Bush (see: WoW) after 8 years, and then the GOP gave them its newest, fanciest, coolest expansion - John McCain (see: MoP). In the end, people flocked away from voting for the GOP and to the new guy because, while he wasn't really super amazing, he was good enough, and they were tired of the old thing. And in the end, the old thing really effed itself over by introducing something so ridiculously stupid (Sarah Palin) that even some of the hardcore fanboys of the couldn't even find it in their hearts to stick with their favorite (as with a percentage of GOP voters refused to vote for McCain because they really, really couldn't stand Palin).

 

 

 

p.s. Don't take this as a political post or argue with it. I don't care what your opinion is, and I think all of the aforementioned people suck at life.

 

Best analogy ever!! In keeping with your excellent metaphor, look at Obama now; most people seem to think he didn't do anything like what he promised to do (expectations/hype for TOR) and aren't committing to voting for him in a second term. Things are looking up for Romney (Guild Wars 2?) Though if given the choice many Republicans would just go back to a Bush-like candidate (WoW expansions and/or Diablo 3)

 

I definitely don't want TOR to be a "one-term game" but we'll see in a couple months.

 

Kudos again for making such a crazy-good anaology!

[eTpC]

where do i sign this?

[Bhigtimm]

Here's what kills me after reading so many of these threads. People can't seem to wrap their mind around the concept that just because some other MMO was released with this bug or that bug or with this feature of without that feature; that it matters. SWTOR was released 2 weeks ago. That means that whatever bugs were left in and features were left out were a conscious decision by the design the team. This game went through multiple rounds of beat testing, there are bugs in game today that i submitted as bug reports during beta. I can only assume that either the reports weren't read or that someone at Bioware made a conscious decision to leave that bug unfixed because something else was determined to be more important.

 

I think what has people like the OP's dander up is that some of the decisions Bioware made are either 1)annoying, 2) really annoying, 3) ameteurish or 4) game breaking. This is further compounded when people look at other MMOs and see what they believe to be the same mistakes being repeated; most especially, if it is something that another MMO found a good solution to years ago.

 

I don't agree with all the things that the OP has to say, but I do agree with 90% of his list. My major disagreement is with 3rd party software, because IMO in order to implement said software, Bioware would have to open the code, and that could very easily leas to issues with botting and datamining.

 

I like this game. I think its a good game. And while most of the player base has yet to reach "end-game" basing arguments against positive change simply because they don't affect you yet it remarkably short-sighted.

 

People play games to have fun. It is the quality of life issues that ultimately make a game unfun. For example, if it is pain-in-the-*** to heal because of targeting issues and ability delays, then no one wants to heal. If it is a pain to tank because my only option to pick up an add is to tab target or shift target manually while I'm trying to move the main boss out of the fire, then tanking becomes less fun and less people want to do it. If PvP becomes unfun because you can't play the maps you want to play, then people stop pvping.

 

My own personally pet peeve is the broken codex. I'm a completionist and I can't get my candy because the game is broke. I know its way down on the list, which adds to the frustration because I know that fixing it really low on the totem pole.

 

Yes the game just released, but many of the things in the OPs list have over the past several years become industry standards, and Bioware *chose* not to implement them at launch, and at least as a spectator on the sidelines, many of those choices do not make sense.

 

TL;DR: OP is mostly right, Games should be fun not chores, Quality of life makes games last long-term.

[hsuz]

The only thing that I am actually dying for now is a customizable and expanded UI. Everything else seems like window dressing. Not talking about major bugs of course.

[SWGVet]

Great list Xugos, I agree with you.

[Evilidea]

Actually except for Macros/ Wow STYLE ADD-ONS I agree with OP.

[Sykomyke]

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

Agreed. This could be useful.

- 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.

I would agree a combat log may be useful. However I worry about the implications of allowing it will do to the community.

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

Allowing target forwarding as well as a hotkey that lets you see who your targets focus is, even if it only switches your target over (by default this is F in WoW I believe)

- 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.)

I can always get behind bug fixes.

- 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.

Never really had an issue with this. How is it not hard to not click your mouse? Don't click something, you don't buy it.

- 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.

Because you said it's fuedalistic and outdated, it must be so then huh? I don't see anything wrong with their GTN. A few changes to the way you search for it is fine. But we don't need a bid system. Last thing I want is some yahoo trying to corner the market and put everything up on only a "bid" system so I have to wait 3 days for my item and then it might get sniped. If I wanted e-bay I'd go to e-bay. People DO NOT WANT TO WAIT for an item, hence the buyout system. Also buyout systems allow prices to normalize. Bid systems cause issues with price stability.

 

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

The only way I'd even want to see this put in the forums is if it prevents the hardcore 24 hour raiding guilds a place to flex their e-peen away from the "heroics/flashpoints" forum. Other than that, every single game that has ever had a server forum has become a place for server drama...that's about it. In a nutshell Server Forums=Drama. Bioware doesn't want drama on the forums.

 

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

Agreed.

 

- 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.

Because its so hard to determine if you have threat right? If they are attacking you, you have threat. If not, you don't have threat. Not a hard concept.

 

Rest of post is mindless drivel

And as I sniped the rest to prevent spam. The rest of your post is mindless incessant complaining about how SWTOR isn't like WOW. No arenas, no UI Modding, no addons. No thank you. Good day! If you want arenas so bad, I hear pandas are coming out soon. I'm sure you can go roll a Panda, play Arenas with your 1337 rating and in your downtime play Pokemon battles with your pets.

[BeeblesTV]

Cannot resuscitate that which is not dead.

[MBirdy]

Most of your thread is pointless because they have already confirmed working on the majority of that list...

[OldSkoolFan]

Bring out yer dead...

[scfs]

Cannot resuscitate that which is not dead.

 

That sounds like Doctor talk to me.

REAL MEN RESUSCITATE THE LIVING!

[Niblik]

Cannot resuscitate that which is not dead.

 

I agree. I think the OP forgot to read the announcement about how many people have actually signed up and are playing the game.

 

Yesterday the server list showed just about every single server Full or Heavy. That is hardly the sign of a game on its last legs.

 

I really wish forum posters learned to scale down the drama when making new threads.

[KeltonDavis]

I agree with this thread, this game feels like its 2004.

[trusite]

as a healer... id love to have a threat meter and better UI. possibly something more similar to rift made healing more efficient.

[AWDBAHL]

Chat bubbles: No. Not everything needs to look like a cartoon.

Combat log: Yes. This is basic and necessary.

Target of Target: Sure.

Fix bugs: Sure.

Focus target: Sure.

Failsafe: Sure.

AH overhaul: Yeah. It needs to work differently.

Server Forums: No. They never work like you hope they would and are hardly ever populated even for the most high pop servers.

Camera Options: Sure.

Threat Meter: No.

LFG System: No.

Improve Servers to eliminate instances: Who cares?

Easy to aquire PvP gear: No. I like it easy. The faster you can get it the more often PvP is based on skill than gear.

Specific warzone queue: No.

Macros: No. Click your skills like everyone else. No cooldown dumping please.

Custom UI: Sure.

Optimization: Sure.

Fix Delay: Sure, if not by design.

Customer Support: Sure.

SWTOR.com server upgrade: Get over it nitpicker.

Increase Number of players allowed on a server: No. Roll on a low pop server. Dont ruin mine by making it unstable.

Appearance Unifier: Sure. Customizable appearance should be readily available. No reason for it not to be.

Have community managers promise us stuff so we can nitpick for years when its not exactly the way they said it would be: No thanks. Thats just troll food.

Dissolve universal PvP bracket: **** off. Queue times are more important than any of your whiny considerations. Im not interested in being unable to PvP because i havent reached the level at which queues regularly pop.

Arena: **** no. **** arena. Go die in a fire.

Tell us about stuff that is coming up: Sure.

Space combat: Im fine with it. Always entertaining. **** off.

[dreadpirateandy]

Is this another thread complaining that SWTOR isn't WoW? Yep, this is another thread complaining that SWTOR isn't WoW.

 

Also, the PvP brackets is an interesting idea. Yes, you guys are sad that you have to deal with people much higher level than you. But are you more or less sad compared to PvP queues significantly longer than the current 1-5 minutes? Would you guys still want brackets or as many brackets if it meant queue times will stretch to 10 minutes? 15? 30? Over an hour? The higher level you are at this point in the game, the longer your queue will be.

[TheHeadCapper]

Which they already blew. Sorry the game will just get thrown with the other failures Rift, Aion etc..

 

I hope a few enjoy it atleast.

 

Thanks for the lulz kid.

[knico]

It makes me laugh to see how new and/or spoiled some MMORPG'ers are. LFG system.....Blizz made it so easy. I remember standing in Dalaran screaming for hours to get a group, and when I got one, having to fly half-way across the world. Be happy most Flashpoints are fixed from the Fleet, one place to go to do dungeons. Deal with it.

 

I only say most because I am on lvl 31, so I dont know what the future Flashpoints have instore for me.

Edited January 3, 2012 by knico