What are the things that made you stop playing?

[Orlacc]

Every time a new game comes out or is on the verge of release, everyone gets their hopes up WAAAAY too high as if the game will be the end-all. (See AOC, AION, Darkfall etc.)

 

After launch, it becomes clear it is not complete salvation and the smack begins.

 

Personally I am happy when the bandwagon gang moves on.

 

The next target of the lemming squad will be GW2.

[Oulush]

I'm still playing but I don't play nearly as much as I used too. BioWare does a pretty good job of "hiding the grind," at first, but once it comes out of hiding... Well, progression gets old, fast. I've only got one fifty and the reason I don't have three or four is, well, boredom. The first time through as empire and republic are pretty good. After that?

 

The biggest thing I like about mumorpugers are "options." As part of their diabolical scheme to get us to keep paying to keep playing, they provide players with options. In early WoW, while leveling, I had two continents to choose from. At points even multiple zones within each continent. In WAR I had three "fronts." TOR? One

 

Yep, Electronic Arts biggest development project ever and they only have one pve progression path per faction. Six years, eight hundred people, and almost two hundred million and they only made one pve path per faction? BioWare thought they could make WoW more accessible and all they did instead was dumb it down so much that I have to actively search for reasons to keep playing and keep paying.

 

It took over six months for me to get to this point with WoW and, not counting Beta, almost as much with WAR. TOR? Freaking weeks. Weeks? Even I am surprised by that realization.

 

Right now that reason is my guild. A good bunch and I group with a couple pretty frequently. Yeah server pop and guild activity both seem to have nosedived but I still want to help my guilders. So I log in for a couple hours a day and frequently visit TOR's "official" site, hoping for BioWare to show some clue that they finally "get it."

 

And are going to use those eight hundred people to do something about it.

 

Not much to add here, well said. I agree with you on everything, and while I understand developing a MMO is very complicated, with all the names that were attached to SWTOR's development (and the available finances) the end result is just... meh.

[Tarka]

Every time a new game comes out or is on the verge of release, everyone gets their hopes up WAAAAY too high as if the game will be the end-all. (See AOC, AION, Darkfall etc.)

 

After launch, it becomes clear it is not complete salvation and the smack begins.

 

Personally I am happy when the bandwagon gang moves on.

 

The next target of the lemming squad will be GW2.

 

Firstly, the entire MMO industry is looking to the likes of TOR to save it from potential ruin. If the past 8 years are anything to go by, chasing the "WoW Rainbow" only works for one game: WoW.

 

Secondly, desiring a noticable drop in population numbers is illogical. Do you not see how such a situation can have a profound impact, not only on YOUR own enjoyment of the game as a whole, but the enjoyment experienced by others who are left?

Edited March 4, 2012 by Tarka

[SirRobin]

Not much to add here, well said. I agree with you on everything, and while I understand developing a MMO is very complicated, with all the names that were attached to SWTOR's development (and the available finances) the end result is just... meh.

 

Thank you and, yeah, they brought in some real veteran developers but no one raised any red flags? Well, besides EALouse but he was discredited pretty quickly. Makes me wonder if Gordon saw the "writing on the wall" and that's why he actually bailed before launch. I still chuckle over memories of people claiming that analyst's estimate of eighty million was ridiculous. That EA's CFO implying a hundred million was ludicrous.

 

Now we find out it was almost two hundred million? More than double what even that analyst was guesstimating? And this is all we got? Holy crap...

Edited March 4, 2012 by SirRobin

[OnlyOneWing]

200 million budget... This game is great, but maybe they could've spent that money more wisely. SWTOR didn't have to be an MMO to catch my interest.

[Touchbass]

Inability to do group content and Biowares response on the matter. Also the community is terrible.

[Coiffio]

Every time a new game comes out or is on the verge of release, everyone gets their hopes up WAAAAY too high as if the game will be the end-all. (See AOC, AION, Darkfall etc.)

 

After launch, it becomes clear it is not complete salvation and the smack begins.

 

Personally I am happy when the bandwagon gang moves on.

 

The next target of the lemming squad will be GW2.

 

That is not the case here, I already knew going in, this wasn't going to be an earth shattering mmo, I haven't thought that of "any" mmo. You DO expect an mmo to be decent enough to keep playing however, so if that makes me a lemming or a bandwagoneer, then I'll gladly be one for thinking a game should, you know, be entertaining.

[Touchbass]

firstly, the entire mmo industry is looking to the likes of tor to save it from potential ruin. If the past 8 years are anything to go by, chasing the "wow rainbow" only works for one game: Wow.

 

secondly, desiring a noticable drop in population numbers is illogical. Do you not see how such a situation can have a profound impact, not only on your own enjoyment of the game as a whole, but the enjoyment experienced by others who are left?

 

qft. +1

[Drasill]

I'm still playing but the things that are annoying me and which could potentially cause me to quit are

 

1. Low population
   
2. No LFG tool. It should be cross-server to deal with low population issues.
   
3. No seperation of pugs in premades in PvP
   
4. Lack of diversity
   
5. Not much to do at end game besides grind dailies
   
6. Credits do not serve much purpose at end-game
   
7. Very grindy. I have a full champion set and now I'm just grinding to valor rank 60 before I can get any new gear.
   

[Onyx]

I am still playing however if/when I decide to quit playing it will be due to the lack of variety in activities. The MMOs that capture my attention for years are those for which provide meaningful activities other than combat-related ones. I do not consider how the crafting works in this game as providing that, nor do I see the space mini-game as much of a draw for me.

 

That was one of the biggest reasons I played SWG for more than 8 years. In addition to the PvE, PvP, dungeons, and heroics, there were many other things to do. If I didn't feel like doing ground combat at any given time, I had my choice of many other viable activities.

 

People can say "go find a sandbox then", but the thing about that is that I DO enjoy both the combat activities in this game and the fact that it is set in the Star Wars universe.

 

Sounds to me like you are wishing that TOR would straddle a middle point between a sandbox game and a full-on theme park game. Much like what Damian Schubert described before launch:

 

http://www.swtor.com/news/blog/20100402_001

 

Freedom is a true part of the magic of MMOs, and artificial constraints and mechanics can undermine the fiction and the sense that you are living in the virtual world – and when you have a brand as rich and textured as Star Wars™, the last thing you want to do is undermine it. Even worse, the depth and visual splendor of Star Wars™: The Old Republic would be completely lost if players couldn’t jump off the rails and just live in the space from time to time.

 

I’ve long advocated that moderation is the way to go, and I believe on The Old Republic we are successfully travelling a middle path, a centrist path that takes the strengths of both: provide a directed and balanced game experience inside a lush, free-form Star Wars world.

 

And like how Dr Ray Mazuka recently cited what devs must strive to achieve:

 

"When you deliver a game, and you deliver it for a player, you have to capture what they think is the possibility space," he explains. "You need to let them do everything they think they should do, and you can't block them from doing anything they think they should be able to do. You have to nail all the features and content that should be in that possibility space."

 

It's just a shame that TOR hasn't actually reached that goal...yet.

 

Yea, that's pretty much it.

 

I have never presumed that TOR would have many of the sandbox elements that others were expecting--I understood from the time of the official announcement back in Oct. 2008 that this was going to be theme park, lots of solo content, etc. And I'd always intended to play this game, but had intended to continue playing a certain other game to fill the rest of the gaps.

 

Perhaps EA/Bioware/LA think they've provided that variety in the form of the class-quest story-line immersion. However the flaw in that thinking is that the story-line questing is still just PvE content, albeit a very cool and different way to approach PvE.

 

People quit playing a game when they are bored. And that's why the variety of activities is crucial to having players maintain long-term subscriptions. When that variety isn't there, you end up with only certain types of players staying subscribed for years. The larger majority of subscribers will be those that hop from MMO to MMO. Basing your long-term rentention mostly on the PvP and raiding crowds alienates many other players who'd otherwise have stuck around.

[Shralper]

mainly the fact there is nothing to do after hitting lvl 50 and even less after hitting 60 valor. I used to be adamant about doing dailies and weeklies, now i don't care about them anymore. Its just plain boring, ive played the same three war zones way to many times. I could care less about pve, that is not why i play mmo's. If I wanted to kill pve mobs i'd go play skyrim its way more fun.

[PlacidDragon]

I guess boredom is as good a reason as any. I just didnt feel like there was any point to do anything anymore. I have 2 level 50's, another 5 in their 40's (was holding off on hitting 50 until i could get some PvP stuff done), and the final is in his 30's.

 

In short, i feel that i've seen it all, done it all, and so on. There is nothing more to explore, to do, or anything. Crafting is the biggest waste of space in gaming history (ok, that was over the top, but its not that far from the truth really), there is no endgame to speak of, etc.

 

You'll also notice that although this is an "MMO", the game is constantly steering you in one direction on the various maps..i mean planets.. and if you go off the beaten path to your destination, unless you walk across other destinations, you are not going to find anything. No resources, not even monsters most of the time, the land is simply...empty.

 

So yeah.. boredom i guess. Still have 3 months left on my sub, but havent logged in for a couple of weeks, there really isnt any point.

[Cepheid]

-Customer Support is, for all intensive purposes, non-existent

-No way to validate kills

-Performance issues

-No Combat Logs

-Sometimes Abilities don't go off

-UI Randomly stops working

-Patch notes are a joke (say they've fixed issues they haven't)

-Nightmare mode offers nothing new to the fights.

-Reward System for gear in Operations is out of balance

-No basic features (Guild Bank, UI Customization, LFG, Dual Spec, /roll function, /Ready Check) ***they can't even get Raid Announcements working appropriately.

-There is no system that particularly encourages grouping and as such the game feels like a SPRPG.

-Having to pickup a quest for each node in Ilum is ridiculous especially when you can only have about 20 quests at a time.

-Gear is exactly what you said it wouldn't be, the same look at higher levels.

-Professions : No skills to level just a simple grind and only 2 of them are decent for end-game. VERY unbalanced.

-Character creation is just sad and unequal.

-Server Transfers? Where are they?

-Automatic Loot distribution is ****ed

-Bugged Instances -Getting separated in operation instances-

-Not gaining alignment points

-They said companions wouldn't be pets. Guess what companions actually are?

-The game is so linear there is no sense of exploration and they STILL shard it. ***

 

^ I subbed for 3 months assuming Bioware could get the basics right. I've watched good experienced raiders come in and help clear content despite the numerous bugs that should have never made it out of the PTR. In the end many want to leave because of the overwhelming poor design and lack of acknowledgement of basic flaws has caused me to cancel my auto-resub. I'll resub if they can manage to convince me they're not actually inept with the release of patch 1.2.

Edited March 4, 2012 by Cepheid

[Maltra]

No cross server warzones

No cross server dungeon tool

No dual spec

No ac switching

 

Everyone i know quit for the very same reasons, some adding "no add-ons" and "terrible performance for the kind of game it is" in the mix but yeah, that's pretty much it. We were saying those things were needed from the early stages of beta, but nope, people wanting this game to fail were crazed about community and other utterly useless bs and fueled bw's ridiculous stance about not having such MANDATORY features since launch.

 

Well, the game is now failing, bravo.

Edited March 4, 2012 by Maltra

[Sporin]

Only thing thats naff for me is the ui, apart from that I'm loving it & on my 7th char.

 

The people who are "done" with it should just leave if their unhappy.

 

The main thing this game has is prospect, they can mold it anyway they like as its young & very expandable, theres a ton of things this game can have over any fanasy mmo.

[SirRobin]

Firstly, the entire MMO industry is looking to the likes of TOR to save it from potential ruin. If the past 8 years are anything to go by, chasing the "WoW Rainbow" only works for one game: WoW.

 

Secondly, desiring a noticable drop in population numbers is illogical. Do you not see how such a situation can have a profound impact, not only on YOUR own enjoyment of the game as a whole, but the enjoyment experienced by others who are left?

 

Yep, flop after flop over the last few years has had the investors starting to look elsewhere to put money. The TOG's, tiny online game, of the Twitville generation have been looking much more attractive over the last few years. The numbers Farmville put up were almost as stunning as WoW's early success.

 

The mumorpuger market needs another smash hit to keep those investors wanting to front development money.

[ZedFighter]

To me, Swtor didn't change anything. It is what I have done in the past, just in different colors. And that is why I feel no will to play or launch the game.

 

Exactly

[NumberSix]

People quit playing a game when they are bored. And that's why the variety of activities is crucial to having players maintain long-term subscriptions. When that variety isn't there, you end up with only certain types of players staying subscribed for years. The larger majority of subscribers will be those that hop from MMO to MMO. Basing your long-term rentention mostly on the PvP and raiding crowds alienates many other players who'd otherwise have stuck around.

 

Onyx, couldn't have said it better myself. I'm enjoying the game, but for me it is just another RPG. I'll be finishing my smuggler and jedi storylines, and most likely dropping my sub after that. The key MMO elements which would normally keep me a paying subscriber are missing.

 

1) Trading / Profession / Gathering system.

I want a real crafting system, not an iphone app minigame. Good examples are SWG, EVE Online, Fallen Earth, Darkfall, etc..

 

2) Space Exploration / free-form combat

The shooter on rails is a nice change of pace from leveling, but after doing it more than a handful of times, it is no longer fun.

 

3) More player customization

Player customization need works, but the race selection is a joke.

[chton]

Wow thankfully we won't need to hear from these folks soon. Move along to w/e you enjoy. The rest of us will try to soldier on without you some how.

[SirRobin]

Wow thankfully we won't need to hear from these folks soon. Move along to w/e you enjoy. The rest of us will try to soldier on without you some how.

 

Ask the few still playing Warhammer Online how well that worked out. Ask the many who no longer have jobs at Mythic how well that worked out. I'm sure the folks at BioWare Austin heartily endorse your viewpoint.

[Thunderslice]

No cross server warzones

No cross server dungeon tool

No dual spec

No ac switching

 

Everyone i know quit for the very same reasons, some adding "no add-ons" and "terrible performance for the kind of game it is" in the mix but yeah, that's pretty much it. We were saying those things were needed from the early stages of beta, but nope, people wanting this game to fail were crazed about community and other utterly useless bs and fueled bw's ridiculous stance about not having such MANDATORY features since launch.

 

Well, the game is now failing, bravo.

 

 

 

 

pretty much this^^^^^^ the stubbornness of the community is going to be part of the reason this game fails. By the time bioware adds all the standard features in a panic to stop the sinking ship it will be to late

[Darth_Urtani]

OP, you made a good point.

 

There is also nothing that makes me want to continue my characters...

 

And I have 137 more days until my sub runs out, lol

[SirRobin]

pretty much this^^^^^^ the stubbornness of the community is going to be part of the reason this game fails. By the time bioware adds all the standard features in a panic to stop the sinking ship it will be to late

 

If how quiet many of TOR's fansites and fanforms have become is any sign, it was "too late" weeks ago.

[Touchbass]

pretty much this^^^^^^ the stubbornness of the community is going to be part of the reason this game fails. By the time bioware adds all the standard features in a panic to stop the sinking ship it will be to late

 

Yea, the community is my biggest grip. When the game first launched, the boards were no where close to how filled they are now with complaints. Everyone ignored there complaints and said they'll never be appeased and once they drop after the first month everything will be clear. Flash forward a couple months 9/10 of the threads on the forums are still negative, people are angry they aren't be listend too. Half the servers have serious population balances at least on one side and no relief is in site. Meanwhile the Biodrones tell us to leave if we don't like it ... lol we are leaving .. they need to be careful what they wish for.

 

Honestly I see so many posts with people saying "Alright at first it wasnt' a big deal, now It's seriously bothering me". Never once have I seen a "The problem was a huge issue for me, now it's resolved as I realize the game is fine the way it is" kinda post.

Edited March 4, 2012 by Touchbass

[Yakito]

My main reason why I am pretty much done is FPS. Bioware isn't even acknowledging the problem so it seems like I am not going to see any improvements and I know my machine can handle everything but TOR. I didn't expect them to ruin the optimisation so badly.

 

 

Second thing - Travel system. Makes me want to slash my wrists whenever I have to traven to a different planet.

 

 

And third - I expected something completely different. I expected to have more Star Wars atmosphere, and something is missing here. Something big, I can't describe it, but something is seriously wrong.

 

Now, I am not going to renew my sub after it runs out, but I'll come here now and then to see if the game had any kind of improvements. If the FPS is not fixed then perhaps in 2 years I'll buy a new computer and be able to play this game if it's not dead by then.