It's Time

[Kaphik]

People have become way too emotionally invested in games over the past decade. They feel much too much entitlement solely because they are paying a subscription fee. Many times people want instant and direct answers to every single one of their questions, plenty of them are redundant and/or inane, and if they don't get the exact answer they want the exact instant they ask they claim that game developers are not communicating. It's almost a no-win situation.

 

I don't for a minute believe this game is 100% perfect, but I am enjoying the heck out of it. I see myself playing for a very long time, and I have made a pretty substantial time investment in my characters. I feel that BioWare has been communicating with the players very well, and the unfortunate part of that communication is that so many MMO players these days just have no sense of everything that is involved in online games and are therefor impossible to please, especially on the forums.

 

It's time for people to start getting a lot more realistic with their expectations. It's time for people to really stop and think about what they are reading, and it's time for people to start doing some basic research before asking a question. It's time many people got a clue.

[Irenicus_Jon]

It's time?

 

It's way past time.

 

Come over to my server, less than 20 people on imperial fleet prime time. No, they are not doing operations or PvP. It's empty. It's been more than a month since I last saw someone asking for any HM flashpoint.

 

Diablo 3 is coming.. Tuesday?

[psi_overtake]

People have become way too emotionally invested in games over the past decade. They feel much too much entitlement solely because they are paying a subscription fee. Many times people want instant and direct answers to every single one of their questions, plenty of them are redundant and/or inane, and if they don't get the exact answer they want the exact instant they ask they claim that game developers are not communicating. It's almost a no-win situation.

 

I don't for a minute believe this game is 100% perfect, but I am enjoying the heck out of it. I see myself playing for a very long time, and I have made a pretty substantial time investment in my characters. I feel that BioWare has been communicating with the players very well, and the unfortunate part of that communication is that so many MMO players these days just have no sense of everything that is involved in online games and are therefor impossible to please, especially on the forums.

 

It's time for people to start getting a lot more realistic with their expectations. It's time for people to really stop and think about what they are reading, and it's time for people to start doing some basic research before asking a question. It's time many people got a clue.

 

You're not going to change the hearts and minds of players by telling them that they're wrong. It is Bioware's responsibility to make its players happy because its players are who give them money. If players are asking for more info, and Bioware doesn't give it to the extent they desire, then some of those players unsub. Players are selfish because we are giving our hard-earned money month after month for enjoyment. When that enjoyment stops, we come looking for answers and updates. If we're not satisfied, we stop giving money. That's the world we live in.

 

I personally would never give a monthly subscription to a game I didn't expect to play for at least half a year. I'd feel like I could've used that money to buy other games. Would you rather buy 1 game that you can only play for X months at $3X? Or buy 3 games that you can play as much as you want, as often as you want for $X? The only reason I went with the former is because I expected to play this game for a long time with my friends. So far, the majority of them have quit.

[Holden_Dissent]

You're not going to change the hearts and minds of players by telling them that they're wrong. It is Bioware's responsibility to make its players happy because its players are who give them money. If players are asking for more info, and Bioware doesn't give it to the extent they desire, then some of those players unsub. Players are selfish because we are giving our hard-earned money month after month for enjoyment. When that enjoyment stops, we come looking for answers and updates. If we're not satisfied, we stop giving money. That's the world we live in.

 

I personally would never give a monthly subscription to a game I didn't expect to play for at least half a year. I'd feel like I could've used that money to buy other games. Would you rather buy 1 game that you can only play for X months at $3X? Or buy 3 games that you can play as much as you want, as often as you want for $X? The only reason I went with the former is because I expected to play this game for a long time with my friends. So far, the majority of them have quit.

 

You can't please everyone all he time. You also have NO IDEA what your customer wants. You have 15 people ranting and raving about something that MUST HAPPEN NOWWWWWW and 1million people who are about to hate you for it.

[Kaphik]

You can't please everyone all he time. You also have NO IDEA what your customer wants. You have 15 people ranting and raving about something that MUST HAPPEN NOWWWWWW and 1million people who are about to hate you for it.

 

Pretty much this.

[Ghaiana]

The people who really cared about and were on low pop servers rerolled already long time ago, because in february already the well populated servers were known (and no it's not just fatman) .

 

They did announce it quite clearly though, but people don't seem to read, they probably expect have that Bioware sends them an individual email with specifics on how and when they can transfer, with sincere apologies on behalf of the development team (although I don't think developers are responsible for the server populations)

 

One good advice for those who decided to unsub, this whole circus will occur again in your next MMO and if you really want to be on a well populated server, take the servers with the longest queues and don't start to complain within two days that the queues are too long.

[Nyteblades]

The sad part is it seems like with bioware. They are going to do what they want when they want and to hell with any customers needs. Its we will do it or fix it when we deside to not before.

 

They cant blame it on development and be honest. Because if its taking thier team 3 or more months to implement something that shouldnt take more than 6 weeks max then they are incompetent.

 

They cant say they are holding it intentionaly because the fall out would be horendous.

 

And there is absolutely no other reasons than them 2 why this system isnt open already. Its incompetence or intentional .

 

So troll me cry fowl or defend them till your content. But it dosnt change the fact that this could have and should have been done well before now.

 

Maybe if they would get over all the fluff and flash, And focus on the issues at hand completly instead of of partialy dealing with it while trying to spam out a bunch of add on fluff they could get the job done.

 

Basicly untill they learn to prioratize and focus on the major major issues at hand instead of flashy extras. The game is going to keep melting away like a snowball in hell.

[dankat]

What:eek:? Someone not blindingly faithful or hateful to SWTOR, but instead giving rational views, concerns and questions? HUH?1??!??1!!!1

[blowmedown]

When most of my guild isn't doing an op because they're either offline or too demoralized about the state of the game, more info from the developers would help so incredibly much. Most people who have subs have a perception of the game - What am I going to do when I log in? Who's going to be on? Is it even worth logging in? - and generally, devs keeping quiet gives us nothing to look forward to.

 

When I asked one guildie why we're not running EC, he said "why would we? The gear isn't going to help us overcome any other challenge out there. You can't use it for PvP." I think we're all just tired of the same old "soon" promises and content. The guild has nothing to look forward to. The silence is pushing them into doing other activities.

 

I'm just now on the last fight for my story line and really hate to finish it because their will be nothing else.

[Nyla]

The sad part is it seems like with bioware. They are going to do what they want when they want and to hell with any customers needs. Its we will do it or fix it when we deside to not before.

 

They cant blame it on development and be honest. Because if its taking thier team 3 or more months to implement something that shouldnt take more than 6 weeks max then they are incompetent.

 

They cant say they are holding it intentionaly because the fall out would be horendous.

 

And there is absolutely no other reasons than them 2 why this system isnt open already. Its incompetence or intentional .

 

So troll me cry fowl or defend them till your content. But it dosnt change the fact that this could have and should have been done well before now.

 

Maybe if they would get over all the fluff and flash, And focus on the issues at hand completly instead of of partialy dealing with it while trying to spam out a bunch of add on fluff they could get the job done.

 

Basicly untill they learn to prioratize and focus on the major major issues at hand instead of flashy extras. The game is going to keep melting away like a snowball in hell.

 

While I agree with a lot of things, I still don't understand a thing.

 

For what reason would they stall the development of such system ? I perfectly know that many times, producers, managers decide to prioratize some things instead what the community wants but when they do that, they still have a good (from their point of view) reason to do it.

 

I fail to see a good reason for the people who decided transfers would come early this summer to have put some others things before the transfers in the development process. What would they gain doing that ?

[arcdaemon]

This game is dead stick a fork in it

[Nyteblades]

While I agree with a lot of things, I still don't understand a thing.

 

For what reason would they stall the development of such system ? I perfectly know that many times, producers, managers decide to prioratize some things instead what the community wants but when they do that, they still have a good (from their point of view) reason to do it.

 

I fail to see a good reason for the people who decided transfers would come early this summer to have put some others things before the transfers in the development process. What would they gain doing that ?

 

To be honest i dont know. I can not figure out why they would hold it back intentionaly. Dosnt change the fact that may very well be the case. But i do not understand it if it is. Thats why i said they wouldnt want to face the fall out if that turned out to be the reason.

 

But again if its not intentional then its incompetence . As the system does indeed take time but not to the extent they are saying.

 

So they say nothing at all to keep from having to own up to one or the other . And seem to be hopeing we will either not question it . Or that we wont figure it out.

[Deewe]

This is not a rant or a "let's all pile on and bash Bioware" thread.

 

As you can see by my join date I have been a follower/supporter of this effort from years ago. I still consider myself a loyal subscriber and I still enjoy the product. I suspect I will for quite some time. Having said that, I haven't been completely blind and have questioned several decisions they have made, particularly recently.

 

I, like many others, have concerns about their current position on the group finder and server transfers and how these two ideas/features actually interact with each other and I have chosen to remain quiet and patient while waiting for some solid information but I find myself growing more and more concerned with the lack of information/interaction with the community.

 

I've never been fond of people who make demands on an already overwhelmed group of developers. I've often winced over the extreme and hyperbolic demands some of the "fair-weather fans" have made, considering them unreasonable and somewhat extreme. Recently, I find myself more accommodating of these views and it is primarily and singularly due to the lack of information from the devs.

 

I was convinced, when we were given the free 30 days that within 2 weeks, we would have some solid communication from the developers about the future direction and future plans. There are, after all, many many questions that are hanging in the air unanswered.

 

Meanwhile, the game I love, continues to lose subscribers. There's no point in arguing this, it is happening and it is obvious. I believe the silence from the developers is exacerbating this much more than they may realize. I feel this way because I consider myself a canary in a gold mine. When players such as myself (the most patient of the patient) become concerned, this is a serious problem.

 

Bioware, it's time. The community is horrible here, I get that. I understand that anything they say to this community will be twisted and contorted and lambasted by many while at the same time adored by others. Thus is the nature of the forums and this community. I understand that timelines are dangerous and how perilous it is to reveal features before they are ready in such a volatile community environment. I get all of that, believe me I do.

 

I strongly and honestly feel that we are at the point where the silence is more detrimental to the health of the game than would be the risk of disappointment over any possible features/additions that are altered before implementation. There are just too many big questions hanging in the air and I believe the time to answer some of those is long since passed. Ask any developer of any MMO that has come before, both successes and failures. You just can't leave a community in the dark for this long without there being repercussions.

 

I am not demanding anything. I'm not whining and I'm not trolling. I genuinely feel like the health and future of this game depends on the developers being more forthcoming and doing so...immediately.

 

We need to know the plans for transfers/lfg/ranked pvp. We need to know more and a tentative timeline would be sincerely appreciated. My largest concern is how these three things interact with each other.

 

For example, A single server lfg tool is basically worthless if it occurs before transfers. On the same train of thought, ranked pvp will be worthless without server clusters. Following this thought through, would it be easier just to cluster servers and make the LFG x-server as well as the pvp ques. I'm not saying any of these ideas are better than others. I would just really like to know what the plans are. What are they thinking?

 

It's time Bioware. Turn the lights on. You cannot sit silently by and expect the community to wait forever. I feel like, and I fully submit I could be wrong, the community has been more than patient while we wait for some news.

 

Please, let us in on the plans. I thank you sincerely for the 30 days free and I'll be completely honest here, there's probably no risk of my sub going anywhere for at least the next few months. There are many, however, that are viewing this 30 days as a watermark for Bioware. The silence, to me at least, is extremely disconcerting.

 

We need some information about the direction of our beloved game. We need it now. I plead with you to communicate the future plans (not a year from now but days/weeks from now) to your players. I ask this of you not while wielding the threat of my subscription over my head like an axe but while holding it in my palms like a beggar.

 

It's time to open those lines of communication. The silence is becoming deafening.

 

It's time.

You have all your answers in the podcast and the associated thread.

 

Seriously, OP, we are both wasting our time.

[Stenrik]

Do you realize how completely asinine that is? "We know you paid us $X over the course of # months. You made friends, created a guild structure, got to know your PvP allies and enemies, and thoroughly enjoyed yourselves. Now pretend like that never happened, and pay us more money to do it all over again on another server so that you can keep enjoying the game." That's a HORRIBLE business model.

 

People want to play a game and feel like what they do matters, even if all they have to show for it is their gear, or legacy level, or codex entries, or whatever. Killing that tiny bit of persistence is NOT a good solution.

 

This is a very good response to the "just reroll" crowd. You have my endorsement.

[Nyla]

This is a very good response to the "just reroll" crowd. You have my endorsement.

 

I don't know how it can be a good answer. Just to be clear, I agree that BW should have handled population in another way and solved that problem already.

 

That said, between to continue to pay for a MMO, being on a dead server and complaining about that and paying for that MMO, being on a high pop server and having fun playing, I don't see how the first answer is good.

 

Whatever their reasons are, Bioware decided transfers would be early this summer. They know it's not popular but they are sticking with that, which means in the meantime, you are paying for something you don't enjoy. There's only 2 sane choices, you leave (definitely or until the transfers are available) or you re-roll.

 

Yes, it's bad business, yes it shouldn't be like that but that's how it is but you can still do something to be more happy even if it's not the perfect solution.

[Kubernetic]

While I agree with a lot of things, I still don't understand a thing.

 

For what reason would they stall the development of such system ? I perfectly know that many times, producers, managers decide to prioratize some things instead what the community wants but when they do that, they still have a good (from their point of view) reason to do it.

 

I fail to see a good reason for the people who decided transfers would come early this summer to have put some others things before the transfers in the development process. What would they gain doing that ?

 

That's just it. Many of these folks honestly believe that BioWare is INTENTIONALLY holding the system back for some reason. I cannot fathom it, but it must be the case. They're acting maliciously by not diverting every single employee (I suppose the janitorial staff as well) into the character transfer system, and not hiring a bunch of new developers to all work on the same set of code.

[Darka]

We have been asking for a little light on things since the start over 3 years ago, I cant see anything changing.

[TheProthean]

all i have to say is, RE-ROLL ALREADY!!!!

 

in the time that it took you to write this thread full of complaints you could have reached lv 7 on a populated server.

 

i am in the same predicament as you. i rolled on a medium server at launch, which now only has 10 people on fleet on good busy days bc its a light server now.

 

instead of whining on the forums like a 5 year old girl. i decided to bite the bullet and use my time to lv instead of complain about something you cannot control

[MandoArc]

Haven't they communicated quite a bit about the server transfers? What more can they say until they're far enough along that they feel comfortable announcing a release date?

 

The transfer issue seems to be the vast majority of the complaints around here and they've said it's their top dev priority and they're aiming for something early summer. I'm sure all the specifics will be out when they have a planned release date, and they'll have that when the devs make more progress.

 

Until then, discussing a bunch of tentative plans would probably create all kinds of disappointment if/when things don't turn out as projected. When there's a release date for the next big patch, I'm sure BW will communicate every last detail you're asking about, because they'll actually know at that point.

 

waiting for what for the game to die this game is not as bad as some ppl make it sound like put seating down on a dead server is not fun wis his why i went to the fatman server and stard the leveling up all over again the server freaking rock if it was not for THA FATMAN I WILL HAVE QUIT this game till they do merges

[Nyla]

We have been asking for a little light on things since the start over 3 years ago, I cant see anything changing.

 

Dunno, you are here since a long time, you should know how everything they say is twisted by some people. While it could help you and some others to have a better insight on what's going on, it would also be used to reinforce some others complaints.

 

Just as an example, I will use WoW and Ghostcrawler, the lead designer. He made detailed posts describing what they were working on and the reasons behind the changes they were making to the game. After each of his posts, a good chunk of people were more upset than before, another chunk still didn't understood him and again he would have to make answers to thoses people or let the CMs do it.

In the end, it's better for a part of the community and worse for another so I don't really see the point for devs to spend more time talking to us.

[agrik]

I've said this before, and i'll say it again...

Bioware should have just made this game KoTOR 3 and held off on making an MMO.

[Psydils]

Here's the thing...these patch dates and their content are worked out months in advance. I'm sure this last patch update was being structured before the game even released. You're not hearing anything because nothing has changed, they don't have the ability to stop on a dime and reverse course. There are problems, some of these problems may have been unforeseen or viewed as a worthy trade-off. I believe things like: cross-server ranked PvP, guild tools, Armory page, online raid rankings for guilds, cross-server LFG tool, Server transfers, etc. are basic minimums at this point for an MMO. To release a game at this point in time and not have these items just baffles me.

 

I'm assuming they felt the voice narration money they spent was worth sacrficing these other areas, thereby making their MMO "unique". I think this was a huge mistake. They already have what makes their MMO unique, it's called "Star Wars". Given equal tools and equal platforms, most nerds will pick Star Wars > Orcs. It's obvious there are millions of people "looking" for something besides WOW, look at the launch numbers for SWTOR, Warhammer, AOC, etc. But, these games don't live up to the hype and back to WOW...The problem is that MMO's have become an industry of failures, WOW is considered the anamoly, so it seems there really isn't a competitive drive to outperform and blow doors off the competition.

 

In thinking logically, I'm going to guess they wanted the game to be out 6-9 months before they offered server transfers so they'd have a better idea on the number they'd actually need, etc. However, if it were me, I'd have let the community sort itself out...have serverwide pvp and LFG tools from the outset and let the community sort itself...If SWTOR came out 5-years ago, it'd have been an impressive launch; but, at this date and time it's below mediocre. I'm playing simply because I'm sick of WOW, not necessarily because I think this game is all that. I do think they have the potential of a good game here, I just really think they shot themselves in the foot not having these basics...once a player unsubs after only playing a game a short time, there's little chance they'll be back. People resub to WOW because most people have years invested and can pick back up at a new expansion no worse for the wear...but I don't know what SWTOR is going to have to do to regenerate interest.

Edited May 12, 2012 by Psydils

[VegaPhone]

The only time for anything was server transfer as a payable option from the beginning. People have been playing on what is basically a underpopulated server which makes swtor feel almost exactly like a single player game 1-50.

 

The lfg tool is useless with high populations.

 

So why did it take them this long to give people a pay to transfer option?

 

Or why did it take them 4 months later to put legacy options, and then 6 months later to get more exp doing warzones, when some people have several characters already.

 

Acting and reacting on time is the problem here.

[SgtBarone]

I absolutely love this game. However until my planets get more populated via a server merge, I can't justify paying $15 a month for a single player game. It's a shame that I can never do heroics. And all of my guildies are 50, so they never wanna come back to a lesser planet.

[HydroBuzzed]

they have a weekly community q&a, a developer tracker that tracks every post made by BW, they have a developer tracker blog that highlights "important" posts, and there are countless interviews by the BW team on the internet. maybe some of you should pay attention around the webz before jumping on the 'no communication' band wagon :rolleyes: