Will You Trust Bioware Again?

[USMCjv]

Being the best trolls ever.

I'm not trolling. Can you seriously name one thing aside from voice over and story (that one is subjective but I did enjoy the story) that this game brought to the table?

[Darth_Gao_Gao]

i agree, OP. after DA2, i should have known. then ME3 came along and confirmed everything for me. SWTOR is just the icing on the cake of bioware's failure. i, too, used to be a fanboy, so it took me longer than most to learn the truth about bioware and their EA overlords.

 

and you're right about the hero engine: bioware, like IDIOTS, bought the engine before it was finished, and that is why we will never have epic world pvp, why the game will always feel like an instance.

 

EA will be fine though. this is routine for them. absorb a well liked company, make them barf out games and watch their loyal customers buy them. then laugh as their customers revile the product, and move onto the next host. EA is the cancer of gaming.

Edited May 21, 2012 by Darth_Gao_Gao

[Berezo]

I probably will never dabble in anything with the BIOWARE name on it ever again...and that actually really hurts me being as my favorite game of all time is Baulder's Gate II

[Drakkip]

I'm not trolling. Can you seriously name one thing aside from voice over and story (that one is subjective but I did enjoy the story) that this game brought to the table?

 

Not that I disagree with your overall point, but, to point to another thing they brought > the multiple companions for every class to fill any role (Heal/tank/DPS) was something that previous games I had played did not have.

[Darth_Gao_Gao]

Not that I disagree with your overall point, but, to point to another thing they brought > the multiple companions for every class to fill any role (Heal/tank/DPS) was something that previous games I had played did not have.

 

[USMCjv]

Not that I disagree with your overall point, but, to point to another thing they brought > the multiple companions for every class to fill any role (Heal/tank/DPS) was something that previous games I had played did not have.

I will concede i did not think of that. Biggest reason I rolled a SW instead of SI was because of Jaesa then I realized companion quests were just cut-scenes,although they were nice, I was hoping to actually do quests with them like for my class quests.

Edited May 21, 2012 by USMCjv

[Gokkus]

They came because they bought into the hype and promises of something new and excited and the only new thing they got was voice over quests, that you have to repeat in the same order every time with no alternative leveling zones. Aside from voice over and story (that one is subjective but I did enjoy the story) what exactly did bioware bring to the table?

 

Every decent company tries to advertise and hype their product/service, you cannot blame BW for this. I btw, never saw them advertise with revolutionary or innovative MMO, so no broken promise there. For some reason the difference between expectations and reality were remarkably high for a lot of players here. Maybe BW marketed their product too well, who knows.

But be honest, this game is not terrible, its just not. It might not be what you expected it to be, but you cannot fully blame BW for this. That is not to say there isnt room for improvement. I too think they are slow in responding to some major concerns, although they do not bother me much.

 

To get back on topic, I am fairly certain that most of the people here cannot guarantee they wont ever buy a BW game again. I mean, why would you, out of principle, deny yourself a good game in the future because you hold a grudge against a company which hardly knows you exist? Its less about trust and more about the hype, popularity and quality of a game that (should) determine whether you play it.

[USMCjv]

Every decent company tries to advertise and hype their product/service, you cannot blame BW for this. I btw, never saw them advertise with revolutionary or innovative MMO, so no broken promise there. For some reason the difference between expectations and reality were remarkably high for a lot of players here. Maybe BW marketed their product too well, who knows.

But be honest, this game is not terrible, its just not. It might not be what you expected it to be, but you cannot fully blame BW for this. That is not to say there isnt room for improvement. I too think they are slow in responding to some major concerns, although they do not bother me much.

 

To get back on topic, I am fairly certain that most of the people here cannot guarantee they wont ever buy a BW game again. I mean, why would you, out of principle, deny yourself a good game in the future because you hold a grudge against a company which hardly knows you exist? Its less about trust and more about the hype, popularity and quality of a game that (should) determine whether you play it.

No I would not but I will not buy into hype again either. I expected what the people making the game were saying in all those videos they released. I really wanted to play an awesome Star Wars MMO only problem is I got a game that is almost exactly like the game I had left, WoW.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVEVHhx0WPk

those are the types of comments I am talking about.

Edited May 21, 2012 by USMCjv

[Nuzt]

No, anyone who does deserves to be dissapointed.

[vsalcedo]

No I would not but I will not buy into hype again either. I expected what the people making the game were saying in all those videos they released. I really wanted to play an awesome Star Wars MMO only problem is I got a game that is almost exactly like the game I had left, WoW.

those are the types of comments I am talking about.

 

How could you NOT expect it to be a little like wow, it's a proven formula. I don't care if ths game has 12 million players or 500k. Some of us will enjoy it no matter what most of you expected way too much and git burned. The same will happen if you start playing your GW2 or Tera or hello kitty onlie its ment to be a past time not a ***** of a time.

[Gokkus]

No I would not but I will not buy into hype again either. I expected what the people making the game were saying in all those videos they released. I really wanted to play an awesome Star Wars MMO only problem is I got a game that is almost exactly like the game I had left, WoW.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVEVHhx0WPk

those are the types of comments I am talking about.

 

That is probably a good idea and a definite lesson that can be taken from this situation in general. A hype will likely say more about the marketing department than about the game itself. I am still amazed at how well this game was hyped and I wonder how players outside the forums feel about this.

 

Amusingly enough I did not like WoW but do like SWTOR. For some the SW theme and VO might be enough.

Edited May 21, 2012 by Gokkus

[Irenicus_Jon]

Dragon Age 2

Mass Effect 3

SW:TOR.

 

No, I will not be trusting Bioware again. Tbh I compare what RPGs I used to play (like Planescape: Torment) and what these guys have been churning out lately and I have to say I can't believe how far we have sunk as a gaming community.

[USMCjv]

How could you NOT expect it to be a little like wow, it's a proven formula. I don't care if ths game has 12 million players or 500k. Some of us will enjoy it no matter what most of you expected way too much and git burned. The same will happen if you start playing your GW2 or Tera or hello kitty onlie its ment to be a past time not a ***** of a time.

The problem isn't it being a "little" like WOW, they practically copied abilities and talent tries. Then they leave out so many things for launch like the ability to server transfer, LFG (they addressed this but unless server transfers come first it will be useless on low pop servers), no chat bubbles, poor fps issues, Too many loading screens (ping pong from ship-orbital station- planet), useful crafting, a better functioning GTN (the one thing they should have copied from WOW), ranked pvp, and worlds that don't feel static (many of them it's also like walking down a hallway) and now I am to blame for expecting innovation when they haven't even learned from the games they try to copy

[gurugeorge]

Bought the game believing it was going to be a kind of spin-off of KOTOR, wherein I could play cooperatively

 

This. What the hell were people expecting other than this? On what planet was SWTOR ever going to be anything else? "KOTOR with mates" is all it was ever going to be. And a fair number of people wanted and want that.

 

However, clearly another fair old chunk of people don't. But then why did they buy the game?

[Evironrage]

Not for an MMO. This was an amazing single player game.

[asbalana]

No I would not but I will not buy into hype again either. I expected what the people making the game were saying in all those videos they released. I really wanted to play an awesome Star Wars MMO only problem is I got a game that is almost exactly like the game I had left, WoW.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVEVHhx0WPk

those are the types of comments I am talking about.

 

I left WOW a while back after leveling five 85s and must say that I do not find the games the same at all.

 

As a few examples swtor does not have quality smooth combat with few bugs and ability delays, swtor does not have open, free to roam and explore worlds, swtor does not have multiple quest chains from which I can choose at any level, swtor does not have multiple character models - just the same ones with different heads, swtor does not have a vibrant economy, swtor does not have quality crafting, swtor does not have day night cycles, swtor does not have enviorments that do not feel dead - no bunnies hopping anywhere, swtor does not have day night cycles or rain cycles, swtor has fleet which is identical for the two factions rather than SW or Orig which are vast interesting and different, swtor does not have the ability to travel anywhere (with two exceptions one of which is on an 18 hour cool down) without many long mind numbing loading screens, and on and on and on. I will let others discuss the UI and lfg and other differences.

 

No I don't think that the two games are the same at all.

[Niypi]

Awww man. OP complaining about not being able to play with people. L2P by yourself OP!

 

Isn't this a MMO? Anyone can just buy a single person game and play alone. Point of a MMO is to play with a community of players. Forgive me if I am wrong!!!

[AeSaar]

Nope

 

No to Mass effect 3, no to Dragon Age 2, no to Secret World, no to Madden. (I include EA within the damage done by the Bioware brand, since a famous Bioware exec now kind-a runs EA).

 

It did not start with this game. I have been holding off buying the new stuff, due to my dissatisfaction with the overall decent into micro-transactions (DLCs). I half expect the next EA game to come with disc-locked content, like what Capcom does.

 

I decided to make TOR my last stand for the Bioware brand. I was one of those people on SOE boards telling people how much better a job Bioware would have done on SWG. Apparently, the faith in that brand built up by good titles such as The Baldur's Gate series, KOTOR, Jade Empire, and the original Mass Effect is gone.

 

I don't know if Bioware is the cancer killing EA, or if EA is the cancer killing Bioware, but things have not been as good for either company, since the whole buyout.

 

How can I buy EA or Bioware, after being burned so many times?

Edited May 21, 2012 by AeSaar

[LordHazanko]

A lot of us bought this game believing that Bioware would come through with a great game. Plus it was Star Wars. Then we started seeing the warning signs within a few weeks of launch:

 

-No high-res textures

-Realizing that the Hero engine SUX on MMOs

-Too many servers not enough "concurrent population"

-No World PvP

-Individual instanced planets not conducive to a "grand-scale MMO feel"

 

Some of the other warning signs came later, and were bearable although irking:

 

-Taking too long to implement ranked PVP

-Taking too long to implement server transfer

-Taking too long to implement LFG/LFD tool

 

To be fair, a lot of us were patient. "It's only been 1 month" "It's only been 2 months" "It's only been 3 months" and of course, Bioware promised us these things would come.

 

As someone who read and posted on these forums everyday since launch, I know that the above issues have been the key critical issues that really got people passionate. It's now been 6 months, and NONE of the above have been resolved at all. NONE. ZERO. ZILCH. We kept waiting, and waiting. And NADA. NONE. Did I emphasize that enough? In half a year, NONE of the major issues that people really really cared about, have been resolved.

 

In an MMO, it's not as simple as, "well at least we got our 6 months of playtime, well worth the money." MMOs don't work like that. We grind and we continually run the same boring content over and over again because of the future promise that we are building something for the long-term. That this will be our character for the next 2-5 years. With the game showing absolutely no progress on the major issues, what is our incentive to continue grinding, if by the time we have all BiS gear and clear all content, the game dies? We grind in the hopes of being best prepared for the next stage of the game, the new content and ranked content.

 

I am seriously disgusted at Bioware right now. My subscription ends at the end of July (I did the 6 month subscription). Next time Bioware releases a game I think I will wait 3 months after reading all the reviews and forums before investing my time and energy into their product.

 

Will you do the same?

 

p.s. The breaking point for me came when I realized that the Hero engine has crippled this game. From what I've read, my OPINION is that there is no way (without a complete overhaul of the game engine) that SWTOR will ever be able to handle the massive levels of world PvP that we were hoping for without a concurrent massive drop in frame-rate/lag spikes. And the "high-rez" textures will never come. Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

 

I for one will never trust BW again. Great Post btw I believe you covered it all.

[sapperdan]

I lost faith to this game, and BioWare. That's my 2 cents. Moving on.

[Goretzu]

This. What the hell were people expecting other than this? On what planet was SWTOR ever going to be anything else? "KOTOR with mates" is all it was ever going to be. And a fair number of people wanted and want that.

 

However, clearly another fair old chunk of people don't. But then why did they buy the game?

 

 

If it had been marketed as "KOTOR with mates" I don't think they would.

[Sarfux]

I would rather them take time and implement it correctly and awesome WHICH THEY HAVE BEEN DOING than rushing it out because people want it fast. The reason it's taking long is because they want their bioware quality on it. The LFG tool looks like the best lfg tool in any mmo. Period. So easy to use

[Bluerodian]

I've made it a point not to trust anyone looking to get a monthly stipend out of me, much less companies attached to EA.

[LordHazanko]

I've made it a point not to trust anyone looking to get a monthly stipend out of me, much less companies attached to EA.

lol

[mksul]

I've usually enjoyed the story in Bioware games, with the Baldur's Gate series and KoToR being notable highlights. I think that The Old Republic was a solid attempt at introducing a more nuanced story into an MMORPG format. Though I didn't find these stories as compelling as the best of Bioware's efforts, I applaud the attempt and enjoyed the game.

 

Bioware's recent trend in monetizing story, however, does in fact damage their reputation for me. If your strength as a company is telling immersive, choice driven tales of heroism and villainy, how can you then cut characters and story-arcs out of your game and sell those pieces for more cash? Bioware is taking their strengths (interesting characters and choice driven consequences that make their games come to life) and removing them from their core game. I'm not interested in paying extra for an "intact" Bioware game (all characters and missions included), nor am I interested in paying regular price for a cut-rate Bioware game (characters and missions intentionally cut out). This seems to be an avenue that many companies are going, however, with first day DLC being accepted by enough of the game-playing public to offset the loss of those like myself unwilling to pay extra for what used to be considered original content.

 

That being said, I enjoyed my time in The Old Republic. While Bioware has lost some of my trust, I'll continue to check out their offerings on a case-by-case basis. Their next game looks, in all probability, to be Dragon Age III. I've got my fingers crossed that it will live up to the best of Bioware's offerings, but I'll be approaching it as I would any other game in a genre I enjoy; with hopeful skepticism.