Is has potential, but too many features are missing

[astrocanis]

All makes sense to me coming from SWG.

 

I played the SWG 'leveling' for 2 weeks before the trial ran out, then 2 more weeks to hit 90, then I never ever did it again. Never had an alt, ever. I leveled in SWG for a month, played it for 2 years. Never ever ever wanted to level again in that game but I loved it so because of all the things I could find for myself to do.

 

That was really bad game too, awful even, but it had it's very enjoyable moments like Dev run world events, space combat, PvP minibase defense, crafting, exploring the giant planets, etc.

 

SWTOR just feels very restricted and boxed in.

 

You think balance is hard with a 1.5s GCD? Wait until it's twitch and requires an aiming reticle. And the game population will, by virtue of the nature of the game, be reduced, I think.

[Izorii]

I agree with the OP, especialy about character creation. I really wanted this game to work, but I just feel it is lacking. The story is great in theory but I just dont feel conected to my character, I kill people because I know it doesn't matter. Once I finish a world its very unlikely I will ever go back my choices seem very limited and meaningless. I am hoping we see a lot of improvements to this game very quickly or it may end up dead.

[Chromiie]

You think balance is hard with a 1.5s GCD? Wait until it's twitch and requires an aiming reticle. And the game population will, by virtue of the nature of the game, be reduced, I think.

 

Tera Online has you aiming your heal spells, arrows, blocking, dodgind and all that manually.

[Amyas]

I love you OP.

 

Totally agree.

 

Yup yup!

[hamsterboom]

Good post . good points aswell

 

crafting is the worst it's too easy, well not easy but now days people just leveling it for points not for making a need for the community which means the economy is a piece of dribble

Edited February 13, 2012 by hamsterboom

[Nicejoke]

To be honest, I think this is one of the best articles I've read on this forums... I wish BW would look into this because if these changes would be implemented this game could actually compete with WoW or any other decent MMO.

[Chromiie]

Good post . good points aswell

 

crafting is the worst it's too easy, well not easy but now days people just leveling it for points not for making a need for the community which means the economy is a piece of dribble

 

I honestly never thought I would see a crafting system worse than WoW's. Bioware really managed to make something so easy and by making it possible to be self sufficient they even removed the social aspect of crafting.

[Loendar]

I'm a fan of the game but not blinded by fawning over all things Bioware/Star Wars. This is a very concise list of points that are well-stated, accurate and would breath life (missing component) into the game.

 

No, it doesn't fundamentally change end-game but not everything should be directed at that target. They are going to be working on expanding raids, flashpoints, PvP, etc. no matter what else is posted here - that is the nature of an MMO. It is equally important to touch on the 'feel' of the game.

 

Kudos to the OP.

[DarthSublimitas]

SWTOR is not a bad game, it’s nice to see a Star Wars environment again. I like my trooper, my big gun and my armor. I played a couple of MMO and I always have only one character and I’m more the RP-PvP type than PvE even tho I raided in that game that shall not be named. SWTOR is good for a while up until when you reach the end, at this point it becomes like a lot of other MMO and all you can do is essentially raid again or PvP again. Players that want to LIVE in the Star Wars universe won’t be able to do it, too many features are simply missing, sometimes they are very basic features expected in a AAA MMO like it was falsely advertised by the devs. I’ll try not to talk about bugs and to talk more about absent features and restrictions.

 

 

Dead world

Let’s start with the main problem about the game, the dead world. Best example is Coruscant. Remember the Coruscant scenes in the movies? Huge crowds of people, dense traffic, in short, a living world. Now go to Coruscant in the game, you’ll see a tiny zone linking the spaceport to the senate (nice coincidence by the way!) with barely a couple of NPC standing in place, frozen in time. That plaza is the only “living” area of Coruscant and the only place you’ll go back to (on that planet) after finishing the game, all other zones are full of enemies, completely linear and underground or in buildings and don’t represent at all what we expect of Coruscant. Zones are not connected and there is no feeling of unity. Some zones are obviously made for a video game since they would be impossible in reality by their poor design, it might not be as bad as The Citadel or Illium in Mass Effect but it’s still obvious.

 

You wanted to go to a place like Dex’s dinner? Sorry, there is no such open sky area nor any place like that. You wanted to stand at the 300th floor of a skyscraper and look and the scenery through the window? Not possible. You wanted to visit the planet through the catwalks high in the air? Not possible. The same problems are visible on Nar Shaddaa. One zone is above ground, everything else is away from the landscapes that make the planet notorious and there is little to no NPC life.

 

The main cities like Coruscant, Kaas City, Nar Shaddaa, Corellia, etc. need more life. Hundreds of NPC must be added and they have to walk around, have animations and do things like using a computer, moving to talk to other NPC, going to cantina, etc. Dozens of NPC vehicles must also fly by and fill up the sky. Zones like in the movies must be added, social zones with no enemies, like the bar district or the dinner in ep2, or the building in the books, apartments, shops, attractions, social places, etc. Stop putting everything and every important NPC in the same place, we are not in that much of a hurry. The fleet is currently the only important place to be at level 50, add reasons to go back to the planets.

 

The PvE enemies are almost always in packs and placed in such a way that it doesn’t make sense for a battle and they are frozen for eternity, not moving or doing anything and it just adds to the feeling of dead worlds. They also have to do things and move so it look like a real world.

 

What it is: Coruscant Spaceport | Coruscant Senate | Coruscant Streets

 

What is has to be: Coruscant crowd

 

 

Exploration

Exploration is currently really hard to do. You want to go explore that coast? Chances are good that you are going to enter an exhaustion zone and die, even if you are on land and unaffected by weather. The lands are filled with invisible walls and useless limitations. Most structures are unclimbable or simply inaccessible. As said in previous point, we need more non-fighting zones to go to.

 

 

Day/night cycle

As other caring people on the forum at that time, I was shocked that day a couple of years ago when they announced that every planet would be frozen in time, never to evolve, never to change. It’s mind boggling to see that in a 2012 MMO. A day/night cycle is essential for the mood and immersion of the game. You wanted to organize a RP event during night on a day planet? No chance. You wanted to watch the lights of Coruscant at night? Not possible. You wanted to finally see a day on Nar Shaddaa? Not possible. You wanted to watch the sunset between the hills of Alderaan? No.

 

You'll never see: Coruscant Night | Tatooine sunset | Tatooine at night

 

Pre-rebuttal:

“But the day/night cycle was crap in that other game!”

Just because it was crap, too dark, too light or ugly in another games does not mean that it must be the case for SWTOR too. I’ve seen that argument many times and yet it never made any sense.

 

“Planets don’t all have a 24 hours rotation in the Galaxy Far Far Away!”

So? The rotation just has to be based on the actual data of that planet.

“I don’t want to play during night all the time!”

Many planets are at perpetual night at this moment. Anyway, as said before, the rotation isn’t always 24 hours and it doesn’t have to be on a 1:1 ratio with real life either.

 

 

Dynamic weather

Some planets have special weather but in most case it’s just to limit (limitation being the key word in this game) the zones you can go to like the killer sandstorm on Tatooine if you try to go PvP in the enemy city. Weather needs to be more dynamic, make it rain on Coruscant, spawn a huge blizzard once in a while on Hoth, make the sky change, give life to the world.

 

Tatooine sandstorm

 

 

Environment interaction, social activites & RP

To live in a world, we must interact with the world. Elevator buttons are not enough, there isn’t much liberty in the environment. Cantinas are filled with chairs, why can’t we sit on them? We must be able to gather friends, go to a cantina, sit at a table start playing a game like Pazaak or Sabacc with the possibility to bet credits. I see some kind of Dejarik game in my ship, why can’t I use it?

 

Sabacc

 

Allow us to activate more buttons in our ship, like a viewport toggle, lights, training simulation, etc. Allow us to put waypoint on the map and establish a route for a player created race event. Allow us to climb obstacles like in other games so we could actually go to places that are obviously possible to go to for a trained warrior instead of being blocked like if we were on a wheelchair

 

Allow swimming! Not having that in a modern game is an insult. The reveal of Otoh Gunga in The Phantom Menace was a great moment and we can’t do similar things in the game.

 

Pre-rebuttal:

“I wear heavy armor, I can’t swim!”

It’s the Galaxy Far Far Away with technology thousands of years ahead of us, many solutions exist. Submersible armor, waterproof electronics, scuba gear or simply remove armor when swimming!

 

“Underwated content was crap in that other game!”

See answer for day/night cycle. Because other games failed in doing a good job doesn’t mean that it will fail here too. A lot of potential for underwater content exists.

 

Swimming

 

 

PvP

Some people might like boxed PvP and love to play ball with the enemy or destroy a ship in Alderaan for the hundredth time but many of us come from games with excellent world PvP with a lot of possibilities. One thing that the system of planets with a range of levels prevents is good world PvP. You wanted to raid the capital of the enemy faction? Not possible, capital world are restricted by faction. You Imperial scums wanted to occupy Anchorhead? Not possible, you’ll get killed by a sandstorm while trying to go there. You wanted to have epic battles on Alderaan? Sorry, due to the fact that planets have a level range, there is no reason for a 50 to go there and you’ll only piss lowbies off. You wanted to go the the Jedi Temple on Tython and kill Satele Shan? Not possible, that planet is also off limit, In fact, it will be impossible to ever do any PvP on Ord Mantell, Hutta, Korriban, Tython, Coruscant, Taris, Balmorra and it’s impossible for most of Nar Shaddaa. All iconic worlds on which you will never have the chance to fight the other faction. Solution would be to add more zones to all planets so lvl 50 players have a reason to leave their fleet and explore the world.

 

 

Space & vehicle

Like many people, I was very disappointed when they announced the tunnel space combat. The current system is not bad for what it’s worth, but it could be so much more. It should have been at least as good as the previous one, in SWG, with the liberty and possibilities, or even better, like in X-Wing Alliance. It was said the space combat will be improved soon and it’s very exciting. It needs to be multiplayer and free roam. The travel could also be improved so it doesn’t feel so disjointed. Allow us to go to empty space and float aimlessly, race in a field of asteroids or land on them and mine. Allow us to build structures and bases in space or in asteroids.

 

The vehicles are also very basic. As other said, the speed bonus is very small so it could be boosted. Companions could sit behind the player on the speeder when travelling instead of disappearing to oblivion. Vehicles could be parked and stay there while the player walks away or they could be called from the ship and have an animation of auto-piloting to the player from distance instead of appearing out of nowhere and disappearing every time in an unrealistic way. We should also be able to use them in more places like caves and big buildings.

 

 

Interface & graphics

Other people have talked a lot about the problems of the interface and it seems the devs finally understand and are going to give us some liberty. The maximum of 2 windows is ridiculous, we don’t have enough bars for all skills and items. The friend/guild lists need many functions like personal comments and a complete right click menu. The market must have options to filter better, by type of items and stats.

 

Chat bubbles needs to be in the game, it’s a basic feature for social interaction.

 

The real high resolution textures needs to be available at least for our own character, companion and groups and preferably for everyone in close proximity.

 

Texture problem

 

 

Character

The lack of races at release was disappointing. After SWG, one could expect at least the same races and preferably more, but we got at lot less and most of them are humans with a different color. I guess it’s too late for that, we already made our character and I will certainly not start over.

 

The weapon system didn’t receive any innovation either. A class will have a certain weapon proficiency and it will keep that for all the game. The rockets, grenades, laser shots, beams and electricity all come out of the same barrel.

 

The bounty hunter has a jetpack, that’s great, only he can’t use it at all to access restricted places or jump higher, the Force users can’t use their ability on the world either.

 

 

The cover system is years behind the current standards and requires the player to go to a specific location instead of allowing to take cover anywhere and behind anything and it is restricted to two classes.

 

Real cover system

 

The current item modification is a good step in the right direction but a complete appearance tab system is missing. We should be able to change the color, change logos, have clothes on top of armor and be able to have multiple gear setups for social, combat or events.

 

 

Guild

No guild ship, no guild HQ, nowhere private and special to go. They are going to add a guild bank, that’s good, but we also need to be able to wear a guild symbol like an emblem, logo, piece of equipment or maybe even a rank patch. Having a guild is really just a permanent group chat.

 

 

Endgame

Raid again or PvP again. Most MMO do that mistake. These things are dev-made and have an end, a limit. We must have ways to make our own content, RP tools, possibility to make events, housing, collections, achievements, these things can keep people busy for a long time and if made correctly they can never end. I don’t plan to stay in the game if it’s to log and wait between raids and PvP events. Quests and stories have and end, we must be able to create.

 

 

Housing

As said above, housing is a good way to keep people busy. If we could decorate our ship with furnitures, change the color or, like in SWG, drop every item of the game on the ground and move/rotate in anywhere in our ship to create a real personal space. Most objects in the ship are actually useless. Allow us to use the med center, go in the bed, put items in crates and wardrobes, allow people to sit in the council room and do a briefing for a future mission. Allow us to change the weapon racks so they actually display the guns we used and want to show. We could also buy a home on planets like Coruscant and Corellia and be in our apartment in a skyscraper high above the ground and watch the life on the planet and decorate it like said above.

 

Trophies | Player made council room

 

 

Pre-rebuttal:

“Housing isn’t heroic!”

You can’t be a hero all the time. Han Solo spent a lot of time in his ship, customizing it and changing everything. Luke and Mara had an apartment on Coruscant and I’m pretty sure they had good times there creating Ben. Han and Leia have a place on Coruscant too. Obi-Wan lived like a cave troll in his little house on Tatooine for years so is Yoda on Dagobah. Students at Luke’s academy all have a room. The examples are countless. We can’t be expected to live in this game by fighting all the time.

 

 

Crafting

The current discovery system is too random, we need more control. The resources could have stats and qualities, that would allow dedicated crafters to be famous across the galaxy and people would go look specifically for their items. I remember that weaponsmith in SWG that was known for the good materials he used in crafting guns. I made the trip to Naboo then went far in the wilds to find his shop and buy stuff from his vendor then I could see him in the backstore, crafting and working, that was great and I actually felt I was in a real world.

 

 

Conclusion

SWTOR has potential, but at this moment it is too far behind in many aspects. SWG was bad on many points but it had awesome ideas, the housing was great and the immersion was present. LotRO has a good appearance tab, Champions Online has awesome personalization possibilities and dynamic combat system so does Age of Conan, EVE online has good ideas and incredible liberty and World of Warcraft must have something too.

 

Don’t tell me to go back to X MMO, SWTOR is the only Star Wars MMO and that represents a lot in my life. Accept that it would gain a lot by having most of these sometimes very basic features and the game would only be better and last longer.

 

 

Great Post! And I agree with you 120% I've cancelled my sub - I came back twice, gave BW more chances than I give most MMO's cuz I love star wars and BW is an excellent first person game provider; KOTOR I & II. But this is a major disapointment for me and won't be coming back until they get their act together. Why am I going to pay $15 for a sub-standard MMO game that isn't even a MMO??? But that's just me. As the OP stated, when I play a game, I want the feeling to total submersion. I want to be able to explore. BW needs to trash that garbage Hero Engine and get something good otherwise we're condemned to an instanced game forever without reprieve; Hero engine is exclusively used to make instanced games.

[Jemfisto]

Best thread ever made, devs if you take half of the advice in this thread TOR will be the best

[DarthSublimitas]

yeah college students made TOR as a side project.

 

Looks like it right?? Hero Engine is for college kids when they are first learning how to make games - it's not a really professional engine. We're in 2012 - make a game to reflect the times!!! We have gaming technology of the 21st century - W T F ??!!

 

Honestly and in all seriousness, joking aside, BW needs to go back to making first person rpg's and leave the MMO's to those who actually know what they're doing. BW makes great first persons but are a total FAIL AT MMO'S. How disapointing and I spent $150 on the CE - never again...

 

I'll just wait for a few months for this game to go F2P or wait and see if any private servers go up with this game that actually play better...

Edited February 14, 2012 by DarthSublimitas

[Ossos]

I remember players touting SWG and how much potential that game had.

 

...and it really did have a ton of potential.

[DarthSublimitas]

As said just above, they can fix your gamebreaking issue at the same time as they add basic missing features so there is no problem here. We will soon see how dedicated they are about this game and the fans.

 

20 years pass by...

We will soon see how dedicated they are about this game and the fans.

[DarthSublimitas]

This thread is a joke.

 

If this game had 400 npcs on screen with dynamic weather and active day night cycle it would require an i5 2500k and a 500 series card to run.

 

Then you wouldnt be able to play it.

 

 

I have an i7 1.5GB GPU

[wifeaggro]

Great Post! And I agree with you 120% I've cancelled my sub - I came back twice, gave BW more chances than I give most MMO's cuz I love star wars and BW is an excellent first person game provider; KOTOR I & II. But this is a major disapointment for me and won't be coming back until they get their act together. Why am I going to pay $15 for a sub-standard MMO game that isn't even a MMO??? But that's just me. As the OP stated, when I play a game, I want the feeling to total submersion. I want to be able to explore. BW needs to trash that garbage Hero Engine and get something good otherwise we're condemned to an instanced game forever without reprieve; Hero engine is exclusively used to make instanced games.

 

They would need to make a whole new game. SWTOR is what it is its a single player game with online features. if you do not like it now dont bother , you will never like it. Its fundmental design was built around a single player game the MMO parts were an after thought almost. The only thing keeping me around is my core group of friends in my guild. who are one by one dropping out. When people hit the end game there is a feeling of hitting the end of the tunnel and realize its all barred off, You can either start over or pull up a chair in the fleet. Ive already unsubbed and my play time is non existent , i log onto team speak and if anyone needs a HM ill run it .

Things that will help reduce the single player expierence.

1).Guild features , guild levels ,story lines , guild starship not easily attainable. guild perks , repair droids,and other usefull items.

2).Future planets that are not tunnels , perhaps larger area's that are group required content

3).Enviroments that are interactable . ship interior customisation,social content like our own trade consotium's

4).Some sandbox features , SWTOR's static world is compounded largely because they are designed like lvls instead of zones. this can be off set if some sand box features could be implemented.

[Hereticita]

That's true. I agree completely with the OP

[Ossos]

They would need to make a whole new game. SWTOR is what it is its a single player game with online features. if you do not like it now dont bother , you will never like it. Its fundmental design was built around a single player game the MMO parts were an after thought almost. The only thing keeping me around is my core group of friends in my guild. who are one by one dropping out. When people hit the end game there is a feeling of hitting the end of the tunnel and realize its all barred off, You can either start over or pull up a chair in the fleet. Ive already unsubbed and my play time is non existent , i log onto team speak and if anyone needs a HM ill run it .

Things that will help reduce the single player expierence.

1).Guild features , guild levels ,story lines , guild starship not easily attainable. guild perks , repair droids,and other usefull items.

2).Future planets that are not tunnels , perhaps larger area's that are group required content

3).Enviroments that are interactable . ship interior customisation,social content like our own trade consotium's

4).Some sandbox features , SWTOR's static world is compounded largely because they are designed like lvls instead of zones. this can be off set if some sand box features could be implemented.

 

 

 

Win.

 

 

 

 

Arrive at planet, get quests, ride the Indiana Jones and the Temple of Fail rail cart to the end.

 

 

There are no factions outside of the main two factions. NPC storylines are meh. There are no FPs associated with respective NPCs on given worlds, they're side notes.

 

They're "Oh, by the way! Remember Me! I'm Oteg/Darth Blah Blah, go to this FP and do some random thing that is totally disconnected from what is your planet to planet rail cart. Don't worry, they're all asthetically the same, mostly gray, and the replayability is close to zero! Have fun!"

 

As for the real MMO part...there is no community, there is no reason for it. There is nothing in the game dynamic outside of the FPs/OPs that requires it.

 

This game is not dynamic.

 

 

Oh well, nothing's going to get fixed. Look forward to future content with endless bugs.

[DarthSublimitas]

I just thought of something we need. We need fishing, cooking, archaeology (real archaeology not this crystal picking crap in the game - that's crystal harvesting not archaeology) and the fun stuff that distracts us for a while like we have in WoW. Yeah, yeah, making a WoW reference but you know what - IT ACTUALLY WORKS! I actually love doing those dailies cuz I get a nice prize with the fishing and there are cute things you can get; pets, gear and silly stuff that make the game fun and make the profession fun. 24/7 questing is not always going to be fun and will become monotonous. Currently, the professions are "ok" at best. I would like the option of doing some of these quests because I'm sick of spending money to send my companions out to do something that I "may" get something back and if not I'm out of money; let's not forget that they nerfed the profs into oblivion so that they are basically useless now.

[AhaziBorn]

Maybe people need to remember how bald a certain other MMO was at launch. A lot of what people seem to expect right now came to WoW years after release. Even basic things, like guild banks. I remember when guilds used a banker alt for that.

 

Arenas? Only after the first expansion. Battlegrounds, even, came in well after launch. I remember - I was in before then. People think all this needs to be here already. Don't be impatient. Things take time.

 

This game is just out the starting gate. Right now, it's time to work out the bugs - which is BioWare's top priority. People are screaming for it. And screaming if the servers come down for a few hours a week to implement fixes.

 

New content is on the way. We're informed that the next serious new content patch is due next month. New features will be coming all through the year - and next year, and so on.

Yes - games are sparse at release. It leaves them room to grow. And grow in response to how they are played.

 

The problem with this argument, and this is only in MY opinion, so I am not stating fact or speaking for the consensus; But WOW is like 8 years old. And started with a much lower budget. This game had a 500million dollar budget, supposedly. So, where did all that cash go? Was it just all for the voice acting? Because that seems like a waste. Eventually, most people just end up 'spacebarring' through conversations, because they don't need to listen to a person talk for five minutes, just to go kill 10 pirates or whatever.

 

It's 2012, not 2004. There is no real reason for some of the features that have made their way into other mainstream MMO's to not be present here. This is supposed to be the end-all, be-all of MMO's and it more often than not, feels like a single player rpg, with an oft times annoying chat box.

 

But, in all honesty, it doesn't matter. EA and BW have already made their money. They need 500k subs in order for this to be profitable and worth developing for in the future, and I'm sure they will get that with the fan-boys, at the very least. It's not a bad game, and it does have a lot of potential to be awesome. But there are more glaring issues at hand other than 'No Housing' or 'OMG I can't move my space ship around'. Things like optimization of their horrid engine, or fixing broken quests that prevent a player from enjoying the story they spent millions of dollars to produce.

[DarthSublimitas]

the problem with this argument, and this is only in my opinion, so i am not stating fact or speaking for the consensus; but wow is like 8 years old. And started with a much lower budget. This game had a 500million dollar budget, supposedly. So, where did all that cash go? Was it just all for the voice acting? Because that seems like a waste. Eventually, most people just end up 'spacebarring' through conversations, because they don't need to listen to a person talk for five minutes, just to go kill 10 pirates or whatever.

 

It's 2012, not 2004. There is no real reason for some of the features that have made their way into other mainstream mmo's to not be present here. This is supposed to be the end-all, be-all of mmo's and it more often than not, feels like a single player rpg, with an oft times annoying chat box.

 

But, in all honesty, it doesn't matter. Ea and bw have already made their money. They need 500k subs in order for this to be profitable and worth developing for in the future, and i'm sure they will get that with the fan-boys, at the very least. It's not a bad game, and it does have a lot of potential to be awesome. But there are more glaring issues at hand other than 'no housing' or 'omg i can't move my space ship around'. Things like optimization of their horrid engine, or fixing broken quests that prevent a player from enjoying the story they spent millions of dollars to produce.

 

 

this ftw!

[DarthSublimitas]

That's the meanest thing anyone has said about this game yet.

 

I just realized - your avatar pic looks like a mechanized, outer space Boomkin

 

I love Boomkins...

[DarthSublimitas]

6- I should be able to ride sharks with lazer beans strapped to their heads.

 

Oh wait were you being serious?

 

Hell yeah - I'd love to do that if they introduced Manaan in a future expansion - those giant firaxa's with lazer's mounted on their heads - what an epic idea

[grania]

Companions could sit behind the player on the speeder when travelling instead of disappearing to oblivion.

 

I haven't finished reading the post - I will in a moment, but this line stood out to me. It would make a huge difference in how immersed in the world I'd feel if we could have this. Either ride on my speeder behind me, or allow companions to have their own speeders. It could simply mirror whatever speeder I'm riding or go as far as allowing us to equip our companions with their own. It's a credit sink I'd happily buy into.

 

I got as far as characters all being very human-like, and I admit that I play a twi'lek whenever I'm given the option to, because I think they are the most alien looking option we have. I'm looking forward to legacy, and hoping it allows for more twi'leks (and other species, whatev) as more classes; I've put off rolling certain classes and alts because I'm tired of making the same human over and over again.

[Aussiedroid]

I was just looking to create a post on this topic but I think you have covered it completely. I have really really really tried to love this game, but now that I have been L50 for a month or so I have noticed the game limitations more and more (and thats not going into the numerous bugs which I can live with for the most).

 

Star Wars movies have so much life in every corner of the screen and this has not translated to the game at all. Every character has personality but not in this game.

 

I want to see random things happen, not to hear my companion or any other NPC simply spout the same line over and over again. Don't get me started on C2-N2!

 

The natural enviroments look great in my opinion but they are static. I know everytime I go to Ilum or any planet the mobs will be just where they were last time, no surprises or variety. Nothing to make me say ... oh thats new ... lets go investigate/explore that!

 

Mobs are always identical, never move (why are they even there ... I ask myself other than to cover those who MUST grind mob after mob). Where is the adventure after the story finishes? Where is the exploration, the excitement?

 

Random events are non-existent, interesting side-line stories are non-existent, openness and exploring are not there and we are controlled into locked enviroments that become redundant once you have finished your quest lines. Many of the maps I simply feel like a rat in a maze, with a set formula used on every planet. I would argue there is probabily exactly the same number of quests, speeder points, space between NPC bases, farming nodes etc etc ..

 

Although there was some occasional whitty dialogue in the class story it became predictable once I realised my decisions have little to no bearing on the progress. There is a great system but the story and game content was designed around it rather than the other way around. I started a second character but I am struggling to get into it knowing what I know of the game now. Even your own character responses are the same over and over and the motives of the NPCs asking for help is always the same (psst here Jedi I cant move a few hundred meters to kill a few mobs down the way or collect xx items because I am stuck here and cannot move, you are the only one that can help ... umm really??).

 

I can understand what we are asking for must be super difficult to implement and have in the game and to offer so much variety that it consistently seems fresh, but seems that no attempt was made at all. Even some of the suggestions here would go a long way.

 

Where is the community events that a society lives through? As a Jedi I am meant to be seeking peace, enlightenment but seems the only thing I can do is kill things (this is why I chose dark side options to atleast justify the game play).

 

Where can I hang out and bum around with friends ... oh I guess thats next to the mailbox and cargo hold on Republic Fleet?

 

Another thing is the lack of design in stations, caves and other structures. Just about every station is the same, and once you know where it is in one place it is almost guaranteed its the same elsewhere. Sorry this is boring, I expected a grand design, not the same model with different textures.

 

I keep thinking of the amount of time of 3+ years and excessive amounts of money that has been put into this game and then ask myself ... really is that it?

 

I feel like I am paying to be an ongoing beta tester - the game was clearly rushed for what I can see is short term profits as many players I speak to feel the same and cannot see themselves staying much longer. This could have been epic .. a game to last a decade .. a generation!!!

 

Did George Lucas really sign off on this game, considering how picky he was with the movies and other Star Wars projects .. I look at the exceptional and creative work coming out of the Clone Wars series and then look at this game and want to cry

 

I am really sorry to come across negative as there are good points in the game, to this point, not many games keep my interest for the 100s of hours I have already put in to SWTOR, but as a MMO and one of the most popular alternate realities (in Star Wars) I and many many others expected so much more .. so I say again .. really is that it?

[TheLordGeneral]

BW *need* to spend some serious cash and hire on a dev team in addition to what they have now to quickly turn this title around or it won't last.

 

Here is the issue though guys. Modern MMO's like this don't need or want to stay open long. They make all of their bank from the sales which happen in the first quarter. They don't care if in a year this game is dead. They already cashed in. Check out the other MMO's of the last couple of years. It is the business model they use these days. They build a cheap cookie cutter MMO which draws in the fans then ditch it. EA is famous for it, why would BW suddenly do something different too?

 

I'm a huge fan and I hoped for something different I really did. The days of MMO's trying to maintain themselves is over however. Play until your bored then move on.

 

I HOPE I'm wrong. Time will tell. If BW don't start bringing out the content they won't have a game in 3-6 months. I bet you though half the swtor team is already working on the next MMO which will last just as long. They will use the same engine, the same crappy graphics and the same weak system. We are in a global recession. This is how business works now. Cheapest possible input for maximum profit.