The end of the arguement. Is SWTOR in decline? Can it be saved?

[faymar]

Now I doubt that you know anything from beta at all..

 

At the end of MAY???

 

If your husband really was in beta then you would know that the first opening of the beta is end of APRIL, on a weekend. Which means April 20th or April 27th.

 

So yeah, your not in beta. If you were, then you would see that the beta forums are flooded with compliments on finally breaking the WoW mold and making a game that is a true successor to WoW.

 

lol what colour is the sky on your planet?

 

I think I will bookmark these so I can laugh later.

[faymar]

You and I must be looking at two completely different beta forums. The one's I am looking at make the general forums here look tame.

 

Thank you.

[WoodChipper]

If you are having population issues look at my signature lol Anturi Reach says light but it is lying hard

[Holden_Dissent]

Time will tell. They need to put their act together.

 

A lot of what they plan is badly executed and tested before implementated.

 

 

I hoped this patch would bring more people in and old players back. Now I dont see it happening and Im afraid it will get worse before and if it getts better.

 

Are you even playing the same game as we are?

 

All I've been hearing is how many people have returned since 1.2.

[Duhakalock]

Oh its one of these threads.

[Adderdin]

You say "most" like it's true and it's not.

 

The proper use of the word "most" would be as follows.

 

Most of the servers are Standard to Heavy.

 

You're welcome.

 

Ah the american schooling system.

 

 

1 to 3 is not most, its the opposite.

 

There are from 1 to 3 servers with Heavy population per zone (EU, US), dont forget that there are 2 more types its Very Heavy and Full (i know, you havent seen those since the launch).

 

Most servers are from light to standard, and in Light, Standard, Heavy, Very Heavy and Full population types, you gotta admit... its low.

 

For americans - its like you have F, E, D, C and B (your school grade system) and mostly (190 out of 200) you would be getting F's and E's, 10 out of 200 would be D's would that still be good?

[Mashy]

The bit in that first article I liked the best was "EA given the award for worst company in the world". Man I lolled hard at that one. If it were up to me it would be a dead heat between EA and Activision with Bobby Kotick picking up the "Greediest man ever" award.

[unseenmaji]

Why are all the BioWare crusaders and apologetists saying these sources are not reliable? We have confirmation from EA that they are indeed laying off 500 - 1,000 employees (to be expected, the EA PR machine has already spun this layoff as a "restructuring plan where we expect to recuperate the number of people being shifted around by the end of the year") and that poor performance for BF3 and SWTOR is reflected by the huge losses resulting from a huge investment on marketing strategies which are not returning a proper return on investment.

 

1.2 was not the resurgent patch that BW was looking for. This is obvious by the free month of gameplay to keep a hemorrhaging playerbase from dwindling even faster. You can ignore all of the complaints you want from all the people who are having a dismal gameplay experience on low populated servers and the innumerable number of players who are dissatisfied to the game but that would be turning a blind eye to very real issues facing this game in both the short-term and the long-term. Although the forums are probably frequented by a minority of the playerbase, there is still a sufficient number of players to draw a population sample from which would accurately predict the sentiments players are currently having and whether or not this indignation can be statistically projected to result in unsubscribing. Player complaints are not superficial either; they demand answers to very obvious issues.

 

Let's not forget that BioWare has to compete with Diablo 3 next month which is the behemoth to compete against for every single game developer this year -- add GW2 to this furious battle between game developers and SWTOR finds itself in an extremely competitive market.

 

Investors are not dumb. Within two weeks of the game's release, Brean Murray Carret & Co (a reputable investment banking firm) quickly "issued a note to investors on Thursday morning, slashing its price target on EA stock from $22 to $28. Analyst Todd Mitchell said he had “creeping concerns” over Star Wars: the Old Republic’s profitability." These investors did not re-issue another note even when the numbers for February were released. They know this game had too many issues when it came out and no amount of post-release patching was going to save it.

 

EA has already made its initial ROI on this game. But, internally, the management is obviously not happy with the subscription numbers (as expressed in the article linked by the OP) and seem extremely wary about the future health of this game. When the developers include a "preview pane" for the Legacy abilities to come out in 1.3, it's quite pathetic that they need to show players future updates to hopefully keep people playing for their subscriptions for the incoming new features.

 

IMO, the omission of Ranked WZs and a complete destruction of the finely crafted class balanced present pre-1.2 has damaged the game beyond repair.

 

Anyways, I'll be here until Wednesday. Then my subscription is over.

 

Some investors have already pulled out, that why there is a downsizing of the workforce, this wont be public knowledge as investors is private. Also you know they been deleteing every complaint post so that people dont see on forums the amount people complaining so they are censoring all negative comments it also sign of decline and your right about the 30 day offer and rush event plague.

[Holden_Dissent]

Ah the american schooling system.

 

 

1 to 3 is not most, its the opposite.

 

There are from 1 to 3 servers with Heavy population per zone (EU, US), dont forget that there are 2 more types its Very Heavy and Full (i know, you havent seen those since the launch).

 

Most servers are from light to standard, and in Light, Standard, Heavy, Very Heavy and Full population types, you gotta admit... its low.

 

For americans - its like you have F, E, D, C and B (your school grade system) and mostly (190 out of 200) you would be getting F's and E's, 10 out of 200 would be D's would that still be good?

 

I looked yesterday about midday. There were something like 10 light servers on US side.

[fanuvstarwars]

Is it dead? No. Is it dying? Yes. Is your server affected? Maybe.

 

At launch, I had a 25 min login queue. I can now login at 5pm on a saturday to see 25 people in fleet.

[unseenmaji]

Update: EA corporate communications sent the following statement to Joystiq: “EA is growing and looking to hire hundreds of people for our digital, console, mobile and social games. Like all game companies, we make occasional adjustments to resize teams as projects are completed and new priorities are established. Overall, we expect that headcount will be up at the end of this year.”

 

Enough said.

Stop it with this Conspiracy theories.. People only laugh at you for it.

And Bf3 got back development cost and more... Don't believe everything you hear, or read unless it's coming from EA.

 

Are you not intelligent enough to realise what they are telling you without saying it, that statement they made is basically saying we are downsizing games failing but will continue to develop other games and hire people for it.

[Holden_Dissent]

Some investors have already pulled out, that why there is a downsizing of the workforce, this wont be public knowledge as investors is private. Also you know they been deleteing every complaint post so that people dont see on forums the amount people complaining so they are censoring all negative comments it also sign of decline and your right about the 30 day offer and rush event plague.

 

Are you talking about Blizzard? They are the only ones who auto-delete all complaining threads.

 

Bioware usually closes the thread, and points the people to one of the other MEGA threads instead. Keep all you 1%'ers in the same doom and gloom thread instead of 50 all saying the same thing by the same 25 people.

[CrunkShizzle]

Are you not intelligent enough to realise what they are telling you without saying it, that statement they made is basically saying we are downsizing games failing but will continue to develop other games and hire people for it.

 

alot of people arent intelligent on these forums

 

i feel sorry for the people who dont play video games who have stock or whatever in bioware.must be a shame to have a bunch of spoiled whiney brats ruin your investment because of some minor problems in a video game

 

the funny thing is though,you watch.i bet the same bunch who are whining about stuff in sw tor will do the same in guild wars 2,tera,and chances are they did the same in world of warcraft

Edited April 16, 2012 by CrunkShizzle

[Morpheous]

Why do we always have to have a discussion about how SWTOR can be saved because some Hack Journalist writes about rumors? I could care less what the hack gaming media has to say about anything. Why? Because they are all idiots.

[Blistrich]

SWTOR is hardly a WoW clone and has many innovations that WoW is madly trying to copy and implement for their newest expansion.

As someone who enjoys SWTOR and plays it on a daily basis, I have to say that I disagree.

 

SWTOR is a Warcraft clone.

 

Run the two games along side one another - same approach to graphics, same scaling, same nameplates, same mini map, same "battlegrounds" and PvP interface, same skill trees, same itemization color codes, same combat, same interactions... in fact, SWTOR goes further in copying Warcraft than any other mmo I have played in the last 5 years. This includes Conan, Aion and others.

 

This is not a bad thing.

 

WoW is an EQ clone. EQ is a Meridian 59 clone. Meridian 59 is a Might & Magic clone.

 

The format is tried, tested and true. It's easy to navigate and easy to understand. And SWTOR builds on this in many positive ways. Just because it is a clone, doesn't mean that it failed to begin becoming exactly what BW want it to be - familiar, but different.

Edited April 16, 2012 by Blistrich

[Duhakalock]

alot of people arent intelligent on these forums

 

i feel sorry for the people who dont play video games who have stock or whatever in bioware.must be a shame to have a bunch of spoiled whiney brats ruin your investment because of some minor problems in a video game

 

the funny thing is though,you watch.i bet the same bunch who are whining about stuff in sw tor will do the same in guild wars 2,tera,and chances are they did the same in world of warcraft

 

This guy is right.

 

Heres an experiment, Get on your facebook and go to some game devolopers page, On some big announcement there will almost always be a bunch of complainers, ALMOST ALWAYS.

 

The internet now a days, Its so bad. Maybe im getting older? But the kids that never knew what It was like without the internet are getting on the web in swarms. Related? I know...

[unseenmaji]

Why do we always have to have a discussion about how SWTOR can be saved because some Hack Journalist writes about rumors? I could care less what the hack gaming media has to say about anything. Why? Because they are all idiots.

 

Those whom have insider information know that some investors have actually pulled out, so EA is considering downsizing the team and working on their next project than throwing more money and getting more loss. There is a major problem in subscriptions, when the subs which people have now run out the ones which arnt active cause dont find game worth logging in it going to drop by a huge number and EA is aware of that, with coming games coming out it also going to drop, estimations behind close doors is less than 400k subs by mid year, there is some last ditch efforts taking place like throwing in a exploding char patch to appeal to the lesser minded people whom can be distracted by such ploys but the deeper thinkers dont fall for it.

 

They truly when decided to give the 30 days free was because of the subs falling it was setup as a PR damage control but would not taken place if not for the financial side struggling and loss of investors.

[Holden_Dissent]

Why do we always have to have a discussion about how SWTOR can be saved because some Hack Journalist writes about rumors? I could care less what the hack gaming media has to say about anything. Why? Because they are all idiots.

 

Not only that, but they are implying that it's dying and in need of saving.

[Holden_Dissent]

Those whom have insider information know that some investors have actually pulled out, so EA is considering downsizing the team and working on their next project than throwing more money and getting more loss. There is a major problem in subscriptions, when the subs which people have now run out the ones which arnt active cause dont find game worth logging in it going to drop by a huge number and EA is aware of that, with coming games coming out it also going to drop, estimations behind close doors is less than 400k subs by mid year, there is some last ditch efforts taking place like throwing in a exploding char patch to appeal to the lesser minded people whom can be distracted by such ploys but the deeper thinkers dont fall for it.

 

They truly when decided to give the 30 days free was because of the subs falling it was setup as a PR damage control but would not taken place if not for the financial side struggling and loss of investors.

 

Your insight, irrefutable facts, noted sources, and sense of level headedness really shines!

[Marlaine]

As someone who enjoys SWTOR and plays it on a daily basis, I have to say that I disagree.

 

SWTOR is a Warcraft clone.

 

Run the two games along side one another - same approach to graphics, same scaling, same nameplates, same mini map, same "battlegrounds" and PvP interface, same skill trees, same itemization color codes, same combat, same interactions... in fact, SWTOR goes further in copying Warcraft than any other mmo I have played in the last 5 years. This includes Conan, Aion and others.

 

This is not a bad thing.

 

WoW is an EQ clone. EQ is a Meridian 59 clone. Meridian 59 is a Might & Magic clone.

 

The format is tried, tested and true. It's easy to navigate and easy to understand. And SWTOR builds on this in many positive ways. Just because it is a clone, doesn't mean that it failed to begin becoming exactly what BW want it to be - familiar, but different.

 

Good post and accurate on so many counts.

 

SWG has a lot of improving to do, that is for 100% sure. But the base is solid.

 

Unfortunately, I pretty much despise the wow formula. I can only hope that they implement a lot more sandbox features. However, I feel that all I'll have to look forward to are raids, and I'm just not a raiding fan.

[Morpheous]

Those whom have insider information know that some investors have actually pulled out, so EA is considering downsizing the team and working on their next project than throwing more money and getting more loss. There is a major problem in subscriptions, when the subs which people have now run out the ones which arnt active cause dont find game worth logging in it going to drop by a huge number and EA is aware of that, with coming games coming out it also going to drop, estimations behind close doors is less than 400k subs by mid year, there is some last ditch efforts taking place like throwing in a exploding char patch to appeal to the lesser minded people whom can be distracted by such ploys but the deeper thinkers dont fall for it.

 

They truly when decided to give the 30 days free was because of the subs falling it was setup as a PR damage control but would not taken place if not for the financial side struggling and loss of investors.

 

I love how many people on the internet have "Insider information". Seriously they wouldn't be giving a free month away to most subscribers, or having expanded it to even more subscribers if the game was in such serious trouble. Try logic on for size.

Edited April 16, 2012 by Morpheous

[Cider-X]

SWTOR is hardly a WoW clone and has many innovations that WoW is madly trying to copy and implement for their newest expansion.

 

Hahahaha. No.

[AttractiveMale]

poor gameplay production quality is killing this game.

[TonyIommi]

Those whom have insider information know that some investors have actually pulled out, so EA is considering downsizing the team and working on their next project than throwing more money and getting more loss. There is a major problem in subscriptions, when the subs which people have now run out the ones which arnt active cause dont find game worth logging in it going to drop by a huge number and EA is aware of that, with coming games coming out it also going to drop, estimations behind close doors is less than 400k subs by mid year, there is some last ditch efforts taking place like throwing in a exploding char patch to appeal to the lesser minded people whom can be distracted by such ploys but the deeper thinkers dont fall for it.

 

They truly when decided to give the 30 days free was because of the subs falling it was setup as a PR damage control but would not taken place if not for the financial side struggling and loss of investors.

 

Reading this gave me a headache. Maybe I'm not deep enough of a thinker. It's all speculation of course, just like the article. We can however do some very simple math. 1.7 million subs as of their last reported date. Add up ever unsub or negative/critical comment on the forums and add a margin for people who don't post on the forums. Are you at 1.3 million yet? don't think so. Theirs alot of "weight" behind 1.7 mill subs and it doesn't just disappear over night regardless of what "deeper thinkers" may profess. MMOs lose some subs and gain some subs. Content comes out that looks appealing to people so they resub. Some will stay, some will leave. Some will resub.

 

As for free subs, Blizzard did much the same during the vanilla period of warcraft. We all know how that worked out. While I usually ignore mindless speculation I had to laugh at "deeper thinkers" who have no evidence for their deep thoughts.

Edited April 16, 2012 by TonyIommi

[amantheil]

Yes, and web site that features a link to a picture of the Olsen twins in bed is always a credible source of information.

 

I tried finding some good information on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal web site, but none of their stories had links to Olsen twin pictures, or links to an article named "Now that's a Gyro!", so I immediately dismissed them. I tried Forbes, but it since it didn't have a link to "5 Celebs who regret plastic surgery", I knew that I was in the wrong hands.