Is SWTOR dying?

[maradigamer]

If we don't get cross-server warzones soon, many servers will be dead. On my server at least (Trayus Academy EU) there is abosultely nothing to do if you want to play before 5-6 PM. For example now, on imperial side there are 11 people on fleet and I've been waiting in WZ queue for 45 minutes.

 

I'm going to quit crying when my queue times are longer than 5 minutes now. Good lord. Sounds like they need server merges too. 45 minutes?

[Noctournys]

My guildies and I liked SWTOR. We're pretty chilled people so we can tolerate a lot of stuff. Can't modify UI? no problem, doesn't affect much. Biochem is the only end game craft? So we all switched to biochem, no big fuss. Nerf classes? Fine, we just try diff specs.

 

Thing is, we're PVPers so we need means to satisfy that craving. 3 warzones over and over for a PVP guild just won't cut it. Most of us are war heroes, battlemasters so there's nothing else to achieve by doing that 3 maps. Had enough of those maps when we were grinding valor ranks. Won't even start with Ilum. Sure it's enjoyable for some to camp Ilum for hours, back and forth but I won't do it even if you pay me. It's so skullnumbing.

 

We wanted to PVE, but there's no LFG tool so it's much more exhausting to form an ops party with decent geared people. We wanted to PVP, 3-maps warzones is so boring. So what else to do? Making alts. That's what we're doing. But what to do after the alts hit 50? Gearing up again. It's like a vicious circle that never ends.

 

not to put on too much snark but...

 

welcome to an MMO?

[maesesami]

My guild is dead, my second guild too. With one healer (me) and one tank I need more than 20 min to make a group for flashpoints. The average people in fleet when I play (about 3pm GMT) is 20-50.

I dont have exacta data, an I dont care about it. I just know that right now I'm more time waiting than playing. So yes, for me the game is dead. If you still enjoy keep playing.

[Lumocolor]

I agree server populations are way down and i myself have cancelled, but i dont get all the GW2 love, the game doesnt look all that great to me, the UI looks worst than TOR's which isn't much to begin with, character animations look clunky and watching characters running looks like something in slow motion a la pamela anderson on baywatch...lol.

[Labradoraki]

No it can't be you must be 4chan trolls if you say that!! Game's great and innovative with brilliant PVP PVE convenient UI and worldbreaking story!!1 *goes into ignorant denial*

 

HAHHAHAHAHHAHA INNOVATIVE AHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH good joke, the wow on stars with millions wasted on voiceovers is innovative hahahahhahaha

Edited February 27, 2012 by Labradoraki

[Noleader]

This game will not disappear anytime soon... That being said I did cancel my sub a few days ago. I will play while I have time but without any meaningful PvP I just can't see sticking around.

 

This is not a Bioware issue so much as it is an industry issue. At some point (right around WoW) the MMO makers decided to treat PvP players like the red headed stepchildren of MMOs. What bugs me the most is how Bioware took a page from Blizzard and turned PvP into a mini-game in a MMO that is about war... really?

 

I still can't understand how the company that took over Mythic's operations decided to go with the WoW minigame PvP yet the company founded by ex-blizzard employees (ArenaNet) decided to go the Mythic route for PvP.

[anstalt]

I wouldn't say the game is dying.

 

Every MMO takes a dive in numbers after the first month or two. Many people simply buy MMOs just to level up and experience the world, once they've leveled they just leave. I think this game will continue and do well for a long time yet, primarily propped up by the casual - semi-hc crowd which the game is aimed at.

 

Lets face it, on the pvp front, it is very accessible and pugs can still win matches. For the average casual player, getting to valor 60+ and getting BM gear is gonna take a long time so that particular carrot will keep people playing for a while.

 

On the pve front, there are loads of flashpoints to do and complete and two decent sized raids to work through. Again, those two will keep the casual crowd going a long time and getting full rakata gear will take a while.

 

 

 

There are, however, quite a few things that will kill the population off over time. The main one, which I dont think I've seen mentioned here yet, is itemisation.

 

In TOR, there are basically 6 sets of gear. Absolutely everything else is completely useless once you hit endgame. Those sets are: centurion, champion and battlemaster (pvp), tionesse, columi and rakata (pve).

 

Once you have the top tier, thats it, your done. On the pve side its simply ridiculous. You get your implants/ear from solo grinding dailies. In a few weeks you have the best in slot pieces. You won't have to work on new implants/ears for months and month. Once you have your columi gear from HM flashpoints, you have 0 reason to ever return to them. Where are the random drops? Where is the rare epic loot that keeps me grinding instances?

 

So far i've done 5 HM FPs, 3 EV NMs and 2 KP NMs. I have full columi set (minus chest and mainhand) with rakata ear and implants. The only possible way to improve my toon is hardmode operations. Thats it. I have no reason to run FPs again. It sucks. There are some really great FPs to play but I have no reason to do it. I'll be completing them a few more times for fun but thats it. Same goes for the raids. Same goes for pvp bags.

 

 

 

This game needs to give its players more reasons to repeat content. I'm currently with full champ gear and full(ish) columi gear but im only valor 52. So, I'm basically limited on progression now to just HM operations and grinding valor.

[stevewilson]

Yeah my server seems like it has less people on and wz's take a while to pop now ... used to be around a minute...would say about 3 mins now. It's not bad and I don't mind waiting that long, but I'm starting to get a little bored of the WZ's now and the only thing keeping me playing is one of my friends plays still. Unless they add Arena or something soon I don't think I will carry on. I enjoyed the leveling and the warzones at first...just getting old and repetitive now. Got to 53 valor with full champ set... Seems like an endless, skillless grind to 60, where a new grind for battlemaster starts.

[Bloodcharged]

Yeah my server seems like it has less people on and wz's take a while to pop now ... used to be around a minute...would say about 3 mins now. It's not bad and I don't mind waiting that long, but I'm starting to get a little bored of the WZ's now and the only thing keeping me playing is one of my friends plays still. Unless they add Arena or something soon I don't think I will carry on. I enjoyed the leveling and the warzones at first...just getting old and repetitive now. Got to 53 valor with full champ set... Seems like an endless, skillless grind to 60, where a new grind for battlemaster starts.

 

SHOCKING, a grind in an MMO...WHO WOULD HAVE THUNK111!!!

 

Also, you act like other games PVP requires skill lol?

[Alexdaphnis]

I like swtor now and after watching what next patches gonna bring i will like it even more , about competition dont make me laugh , old style fantasy games that dont appeal me at all and i played enough mmo from daoc . warhammer , wow , eve online etc...only real competition for swtor is still wow Edited February 27, 2012 by Alexdaphnis

[Gformutorila]

I do not think this a "great" game. But what else do we have? I played WoW for 7 years. I will never go back. I played Guild wars for an hour long time ago but did not like it. EVE, warhammer online are both dead.

 

So what do we have left?

[KnightVane]

TOR will continue to limp along for another year or so I think, but the lack of community feeling in the game will be its death.

 

At the core, TOR is not a terrible game by any means. Max-level is shambolic, but the 1-49 experience of questing and fairly entertaining (if a little thin) Warzone PvP keeps things interesting. Sure they dropped the ball on a ton of stuff, but other stuff eg: the questing system is the best I've encountered in any MMO.

 

What keeps MMOs alive is Community and IMHO this is where TOR fails the hardest. Still not having a proper server forum system is inexcusable. The game world is so wide-open and/or instanced off into little pockets of storyline that you barely even see anyone else. The "fleet" experience is also very underwhelming, most people hanging around either the GTN or the PvP quest giver.

 

Community keeps even the worst MMOs alive, but TOR's complete lack might spell its doom. Time will tell I guess...

 

This is spot on. I simply could not beleive the lack of server forums, everyone who has played mkmos for a long time knows that the ingame politics keeps people coming back for more and that has to happen via the forum.

 

I have started to level a tune on the "most populated" EU server now, but I would much rather transfer my existing one - don't mind paying for this.

Edited February 27, 2012 by KnightVane

[Telos]

TOR has so many problems, I stopped trying to keep track of them.

 

Consider me one of those guys that will not be back after my sub. runs out next month.

 

Hell Aion was better than this at launch, it's been live for 2+ years, and just went totally free to play. I'll play that for free for a few months till The Secret World or Guild Wars 2 come out.

 

I was one of the first people to sign up for the forums here. I drank the Kool-Aid. I am an official Star Wars geek. There isn't a single person playing this game that could beat me at Star Wars trivia. I have loved Star Wars since the very first time i saw ANH in the back of my grandfather's truck at a drive-in in South Dakota in 1977. But this game is ****. It's obvious Hero Engine isn't up to the task. It's obvious BW can't code. It's obvious Georg Zoeller is a blathering f-ing idiot who doesn't even play the game he runs. PvP is a joke. PvE is barely existent, and what there is (at endgame) is riddled with bugs (4 hours on Soa last week until we finally got an un-bugged encounter), character creation that's straight out of 2005, lazy writing from a staff that I have to question whether or not they have ever actually seen a Star Wars movie, and a space game that is, essentially, 80s arcade technology.

 

So, ya... GG BW you have failed, utterly, to give MMO players a game worthy of either the IP, or 2012 standards.

[Andreasus]

I like the game, but the PvP has no real concept. Can't believe that people from mythic are working for bioware

[Noctournys]

I like the game, but the PvP has no real concept. Can't believe that people from mythic are working for bioware

 

They crashed and burned two other games, so y ou're surprised...?

[Wassawp]

There are empty servers because they listened too much to the whiny kids during the game launch...

They need to MERGE some servers so that we don't see more of those pointless threads around.

[-Alma-]

Yeah, activity is noticeably down from launch, but thats to be expected. I think swtor is merely shedding those who wanted something new to play without really being into star wars.

 

Once they have gone (Im sure some might stay), then it will be mostly star wars fanboys left and disgrungtled swg'ers who cant believe their beloved game has been ditched for NGE2

[XxPetexX]

Don't know about dying but it's NOT growing.

 

It's losing subscirbers fast (it seems) and if BW doesn't act and merge servers soon they'll lose even more.

 

It's no wonder really when many servers (mine included) nowadays have about 40-50 rep players at fleet PEAK HOURS.

 

Virtually impossible to find FP groups and WZ queues are growing by the day.

 

People are getting fed up and there is too little communication from BW

[Stranger_LDR]

EVE, warhammer online are both dead.

How is EVE dead again? It may not be your playstyle game, but it's not dead for sure.

with 40-50k players prime-time in one sandbox.

 

It takes time and skills to be good tho. Well, if u're not a high sec carebear of course, then it's not fun. Running missions all the time is boring for sure.

We have a small (around 40 ppl) corp living in class 6 WH. And we're doing great. Both pve and pvp. Sometimes I miss the goal of pve (except money ofc). But pvp is what gives people shaking hands, even if you're long timer.

 

Besides, I think I've read somewhere about instant pvp option "coming soon" . That would be awesome.

EVE will never die, since it's driven by community and good dev communication. But then again, EVE isn't for someone with IQ less than 70.

 

This what WH living is like -

And it's great. (scroll to 19:30 for the most entertaining part)

Edited February 27, 2012 by Stranger_LDR

[KrackenOne]

Think it is dying a slow death.

 

If not for my buddies in vent and WZ PvP, I'd be out. Even that PvP in WZ becomes unbearable sometimes and I log out. Trying to get my buddies to try other games, but they all love SW too much tbh.

 

Really irks me that BW had to take their first step into a MMO with the SW IP....we're screwed for a few years now.

[KrackenOne]

Yeah, activity is noticeably down from launch, but thats to be expected. I think swtor is merely shedding those who wanted something new to play without really being into star wars.

 

Once they have gone (Im sure some might stay), then it will be mostly star wars fanboys left and disgrungtled swg'ers who cant believe their beloved game has been ditched for NGE2

 

LOL! Never thought I'd say the NGE was better than anything, but it is better than this.

 

Soon as Dominus hit's I'm a memory. PvP all day everyday, two servers build and fight for bases.

[Delease]

Sure the pop decreased. This happens with alot of new games. Sadly though with how alot of people are now ( impatient a.d.d. riddled ) no MMO is going to survive.

 

I blame WoW for this. As much as people bash the game, it also set a standard for what new mmo gamers expect in a launch MMO. They expect 5+ years of WoW type content crammed into whatever new mmo is being launched.

 

Same thing is going to happen with GW2 & whatever new mmo comes along. Its the new breed of 'gamers' that are causing this.

 

Happens with single player games even. Game B is released with a good amount of content, long storyline, side quests, etc. Mass of 'gamers' rush out and power through the game in a week, then complain @ the company for not releasing more content sooner.

Edited February 27, 2012 by Delease

[Telos]

Its the new breed of 'gamers' that are causing this.

 

Well, if that's what the paying customers demand, don't you think developers (business) should respond accordingly in order to sell thier product? I didn't get a degree in business, but i know enough about it to say with certainty that if you fail to give the customer what he wants, you can't be surprised when you don't sell your product. The market (in this case MMO gamers) will determine the success or failure of any new product, will it not?

Edited February 27, 2012 by Telos

[Aharaza]

To me it's dead. At peak times the rep fleet on my server was filled with 20 people max.

 

This lead to too few PVP buddies, imp battlemasters vs. fresh rep 50's. Losing WZ's all day every day. Less people on the fleet. I cancelled my sub and know other reps have done the same.

 

I can't generalize and I only know what I see... without knowing actual numbers I can't verify it's dying but at least count me out.

[WookieBob]

I was wondering if I was the only person noticing the DRASTIC decrease in players - at least when I play on the server I play on.

 

-sniff sniff....eeewwww someone needs a bath