How did it come to this?

[Plumz]

No, the biggest problem is that people like you think that it's the consumer's fault for why the game isn't successful. This is the reason BW is so slow to making changes, and this is why people who are still paying the monthly sub are so bitter about players leaving.

 

It's a shame that the OP took that much time to make one point because that one point is being largely ignored.

 

That point is that TOR does not feel like an MMO. This is a problem that no amount of time will fix unless the Devs completely change direction, which with their arrogant attitude, will not happen. They foolishly believe that transfers and LFG tools will fix their single player MMO.

 

DItto. I played 5 mmo's over last 10 years spending about 1-5 to 2 per each. This is not a mmo and devs refuse to see it. Because the refuse to see it, they will not improve it in that way. That's why I have very little faith in this game. It has potential, that I am affraid will never be realized. Sad, just sad.

[DiabloDoom]

Added what? Custom UI? Bug fixes? Legacy fluff that nobody cares about? We've been for 6 moths and are still paying for beta. And that's now what it was offered to us in the adds...

 

Ask any long term SWG or even 5+ years wow players why did they play for so long? Gear? Fluff? Functionality? They all came here and soon realized this game dosn't have it. And sad part it's not going to have it with next patch or (most likely) even next xpac. It is the design of it, missing important component of what makes mmo. And no patch will change that. Not even server transfers will, you sure will get to play with people, but well you will see yourself soon enough what I mean. No worry.

 

Yeah, you are 100% correct, this game should be completely polished by now. *looks at WOW in it's first year*.

[Thundaarr]

Honestly I was excited for this game. I play what is perhaps the best MMO on the market right now, eq2. (notice I said best, not how many subs it has) and even that has it's share of problems. EVERY MMO has problems to start. WoW used to have incredibly long queues to get into servers on a consistent basis, and crashed and was patched every other day it seemed during it's first few months of existence. However back then, the market was a lot more lenient of such things, and obv it all worked out in the end for WoW.

 

In the end, I think the star wars team got what they wanted.

 

I will explain this very carefully, because I'm sure there will be some that will vehemently disagree with me.

 

When you make a game and gear it strictly for easy, casual, play, you will get a lot of easy, casual, players. Players who will move on to whatever game comes along next.

 

It is so incredibly easy to lvl in TOR that you needed to have more of an end game prepared. There was a post earlier saying we should let it develop... well pretty much every other successful MMO (and I'm talking mostly WoW here) did NOT have an easy time lvl'ing as currently. There was time for an end game to develop and be put into place because a VAST majority of people were still lvl'ing even 5 or 6 months into the game. How many didn't have a lvl 50 character 2 months into game here? Very few I would imagine, and then only because they started an alt or some other circumstances.

 

It's all well and good to make everyone feel special by letting them have the joy of lvl'ing without any real effort, but it doesn't engender a feeling of accomplishment, thus creating attachment to your character.

 

Also, the lack of UI functionality months into the game killed it for others. As well as the fact you had easy raids, a byzantine gear system at top end, and no community support in the form of guilds.

 

As a single player game, I found TOR to be amazing. As an MMO? Not so much.

[Lord_Ravenhurst]

Those who are happy with the overall design will stay. How many subs that means, no one knows.

I know many people rather wanted SW Galaxies 2 plus stories and warzones and less cartoony graphics.

[belizar]

Yeah I know what you are saying, it's inconceivable to think, I mean this world is so perfect after all.

 

dont think u kno what im saying lol

ill just say your a fanboi oblivious to this games problems and leave it at that

[Darthshnooky]

The biggest "problem" with SWTOR is it's maturity (how long it's been around). If people would get over their incessant need for instant gratification and let the game have time to mature, most of the problems would fix themselves. But since nearly everyone posting threads like this wants the game to be perfect RIGHT NOW, which can't possibly happen, they decide to say the game is a failure and proclaim that they are abandoning the sinking ship before it's too late.

 

The best thing that Bioware can do is to take their time and fix things right even if it takes too long for all the folks who need instant gratification. Odds are that those folks won't get their gratification from the other games they're looking forward to, either. And by that time, maybe SWTOR will have evolved into something that can keep them busy for a couple more months, until their need for something new and exciting kicks in and makes them leave again.

 

Seven years ago, an MMO developer had the time to let a game mature (I'm thinkin' WoW here). This is 2012, not only is WoW still an MMO juggernaut, but Rift has a solid fanbase, Tera just came out with GW2 and TSW both waiting in the wings. BW didn't have time to just let this game mature after release and they knew that just like the players did/do.

 

Yes, players are willing to wait for certain things (new content mostly -- such as new Ops, Flashpoints, WZs), but not a lot of things. The 1.2 UI should have been in at launch, group finder should've been in at launch, all of the current end-game content should've been in at launch. You cannot compare this game to what WoW had at launch, because WoW didn't have to compete with nearly as much content in other games as TOR does (mostly from WoW and its installed player base). BW doesn't have time to just take its time and iron out the wrinkles, because too many other games are breathing down their proverbial necks.

 

I really enjoy this game -- but even playing at launch on a full server with a queue every night, it didn't really feel like an MMO. Leveling up had too much of the grind of an MMO, but being out in the world seemed off somehow. Maybe it was all the instanced areas or the linear progression without any options for leveling in other areas... but the "MMO" feel of this game has always been off.

[DiabloDoom]

dont think u kno what im saying lol

ill just say your a fanboi oblivious to this games problems and leave it at that

 

It was sarcasm, and no I'm not a fan-boy of "a service in any walk of life".

[siegedeluxe]

dont think u kno what im saying lol

ill just say your a fanboi oblivious to this games problems and leave it at that

 

[Kubernetic]

I think at this point all of us SW (and SWTOR) fans just simply have to acknowledge the fact that the game is going to sink unless a major overhaul is done. Unfortunately, with the BW record on how fast things are done this is not going to happen soon. If it does at all.

 

Lots of us have issues with the game, some are raised repeatedly on forums similar (or identical) others vary to a different degree. But I think all those issues are not the major reason why the game is tanking hard. The major reason is in the idea of the game devs of what a MMO is.

 

It's true, BW is not responsible to build communities, but it is their responsibility to support such in various ways. Without communities there is no mmo, there is nothing that will keep people logging back everyday and play. Good, or bad with their good/bad characters they are the key element of any game pretending to be a mmo. SWTOR doesn't only have any, it lacks important tools to create one. And it is not a mistake. It is a design as intended.

 

All the changes proposed by so many on these forums (some back during beta testing) could save the game. I am not talking about LFG tool or character transfers. Changes that would shift this game into a real mmo. Unfortunately, those things were already discussed way in beta and the Devs chose their vision of mmo instead. The worst part is, at this point BW is trying to patch holes in a leaking hull, but still hangs into their “own” vision of the greatest, innovating mmo they intended this game to be.

 

Any of you also get the feeling that just as we, players are pissed off by the Devs narrow (or lack of) vision, they seem to be also really frustrated with us? They had the greatest vision and innovation and story line etc.. and we, the players, pissed on everything their brilliance produced, with some ridiculous demands...

 

I followed the game development for over a year. Read forums with curiosity and anticipation of what will the experience of playing it be. There were red flags raised by beta testers more and more of them as the time of launch was approaching. Devs chose their own path, chose to ignore some obvious and valid points made by people who've been playing mmos for over a decade. Results we can all see right now.

 

Is the game going to die? Sure not. There will be enough interests for some time to keep it alive. But, those of you who keep saying “Let the whiners go, we don't care about the numbers, let those who enjoy the game stay and play..” - clearly don't realize the power of subscription numbers. It represent cash that a part of is put into future game development. I am not in designing and managing a mmo at all, but my common sense tells me there is a different power of “purchasing” future game development between 1ml and 500k subscribers. From my little understanding of business mechanics the 500k subs will give much less that 50% of purchasing power than of what 1ml subs does because of budget allocations. Simply put, your game experience is not going to improve much with dwindling subscription base.

 

A lot of us are really angry and upset. Not because we hate the game. We love the game and we wanted it so much to succeed. The frustration is on part because lots of us clearly see why the game is falling, yet the Devs are stubbornly hanging on their vision of what they want us to do. Sure, some people do create alts and play them over and over, but they do it because they play in a community interacting with friends/enemies. Guess, devs don't get that either...

 

I am going to run my sub and not renew it. Not because the game is beyond saving. Because the devs at BW are refusing to abandon “their” visions and adapt and restructure the game to truly become a MMO with a community that interacts with love/hate and everything between. I think most veterans mmo players will agree. For last decade (or even longer) we played much worst designed games with more bugs/glitches and even less functionality that this “beta SWTOR” offers. You don't play mmo because of it's vibrant storyline, graphics, or functionality. You keep coming into the game because of people you meet/group/love/hate that are in it.

 

How many subs do you need to lose before you get it BW? If ever...

 

Overblown rhetoric is overblown rhetoric.

 

Name another MMORPG that launched in the last year with a monthly subscription and a stellar subscriber story.

 

There's a solid set of reasons why BioWare was granted the opportunity to create this game and why the countless players on the forums did not get the same opportunity, and that was because of their vision for the game. It's really easy to sit back on the other side of the development wall and say "You should have done this instead, or this, and this" but it's a whole different scenario when YOU are the guy at the table with the clean sheet of paper and you have to determine what kind of game A) You want to make, and B) you CAN make within the timeframe and budget allowed.

 

And what is wrong with that vision? Nothing inherently. The story is immensely well-done and has changed the landscape of MMORPGs forever. Try going back to a little text bubble quest game. The vision of multi-team flashpoints with the ROTJ Attack On Endor/Death Star II as the "Holy Grail" of flashpoint design, with a team in space, a team on the ground, and a team on the Death Star. The vision of the Legacy system, replicating the central core Skywalker family and its interactions amongst its members. The vision of a fantastic ground game experience married to a compelling and playable space game experience, with further developments on the way and a complete break from the rails in motion.

 

There's nothing wrong with the vision of this game's developers, IMHO.

 

Of course, there have been a few stumbles along the way, specifically in regard to PVP, and perhaps in endgame constructs. But the PVP issue has been addressed and is being reformulated, and this is not at all outside the scope of possibility. It's much easier to take the fully functional game we now have and alter the PVP systems than to take a game with good PVP mechanics and add the rest of the game to it. Similarly, it's much easier to graft new visions of endgame onto the existing framework they have built.

 

Most of what I can see that's wrong with how this game has unfolded is that a million or so gamers thought this was supposed to be SWG2, even though no one ever said that's what the game would be. The silver lining, however, is that at least most of them bought the core game and helped recoup the game's development costs, leaving it with a great opportunity to be highly profitable going forward.

 

For that, those of us who will be playing for years to come thank you and appreciate your contributions toward making this an awesome game for the rest of us. I'm sure the development team and management teams are also thankful that so many people bought the game even though their expectations were completely out of line with reality. They may not be able to say as much openly as to that specific reason, but I'm sure they are appreciative. We all hope you'll check back from time to time as other games you check out also don't pass the extremely high bar being set by some of today's players.

 

Over time, the doom and gloom seen here will give way to the realization that there was a bright future after all.

Edited June 2, 2012 by Kubernetic

[jimmyjediknight]

well you have no idea what is coming in 1.4 and 1.5 , the game is over for those who want to jump ship early and not wait an see how things pan out. bio has said this game will go on untill they drop below 500,000 subs. From what iv seen most people that are unappy are ppl who do pvp, i myself cant stand pvp. others are leaving cuz there server has died after transfers happen that could help. it takes around 1 year for a mmo to mature. this s starwars, not wow,guild wars, or any other mmo. reading all these posts are getting old its time soe people become part of the solution an give advice but thats to easy some people would rather just be part of the problem. if you want to play and are going to stay for the long haul great if your going to jump ship thats your right but we dont need to see topic after topic of im not resubbing. the whole world does not need to know player x is leaving.

 

To meny ppl thought this would be swg2, thank god its not i could not stand swg, complete grind fest i was with swg from release untill the game jumped the shark.

 

the same people who are blasting posts all over the forums will be the same ones who when later things come out like 1.6 ect,... will be the ones posting how they were here from the start even tho they jumped ship

Edited June 2, 2012 by jimmyjediknight

[FourTwent]

You say the game needs a huge overhaul, yet you do not offer suggestions or ideas as to what needs to change.

 

A Major overhaul?

 

Of course the game doesn't need it. The game itself is solid. Bioware made a mistake by opening to many servers and they are paying for it. They are working as fast as they can to solve that problem but things take time. (Imo too long) However, whats done is done and can't be changed. All that Bioware can do is look forward and learn from their mistakes. They certainly don't need thread, after thread saying the same thing over and over again.

 

Trust me. Bioware hears you and understand what the community are asking for but it takes time.

 

I gotta agree here. Other than saying 'a lack of vision' or 'being narrow minded' you dont really go into specifics about what you're upset about. All this means is that your post is not descriptive and will be ignored by the Devs.

 

You say there are various things that were discussed in beta(besides group finder) and they were ignored by the devs but you dont list any specifics.

 

I was playing in a warzone guarding a node just earlier today and thought to myself 'wow, this game is so incredibly polished. . .yet people just rant and rave about how horrible it is'. I can only imagine how frustrating this is to the developers after all that time was put into making it so polished.

 

Bioware is new to the MMO genre, so it's going to take time for them to understand the best practice to go about certain aspects with the game.

 

Personally, my main issue is that content is too easy. I say release new content 'over tuned' so that it's crazy hard, and then like a month before releasing new content, tone it down a bit to make it more accessible to wider audience. I mean if it's actually possible for you guys to complete it with developers, then that's good enough(aka dont make it literally impossible).

 

That way the hardcore raiders can actually strive to complete something and practice their tactics. . .but also gives them a theoritical deadline so that if they dont beat it by the time the nerf comes(and the new content is about to be released), then they lose some pride(or gain some pride if they're able to complete it).

 

Then it all rotates and everyone else is able to complete it.

 

I think Bioware is spot on with how they execute most of their plans, but they need to realize that some people want a challenge that's not being presented to them(create a new difficulty tier if you have to).

[SNCommand]

I think at this point all of us SW (and SWTOR) fans just simply have to acknowledge the fact that the game is going to sink unless a major overhaul is done.

Because that went swimmingly last time... too soon?

Edited June 2, 2012 by SNCommand

[Darthshnooky]

Overblown rhetoric is overblown rhetoric.

 

Name another MMORPG that launched in the last year with a monthly subscription and a stellar subscriber story.

 

There's a solid set of reasons why BioWare was granted the opportunity to create this game and why the countless players on the forums did not get the same opportunity, and that was because of their vision for the game. It's really easy to sit back on the other side of the development wall and say "You should have done this instead, or this, and this" but it's a whole different scenario when YOU are the guy at the table with the clean sheet of paper and you have to determine what kind of game A) You want to make, and B) you CAN make within the timeframe and budget allowed.

 

And what is wrong with that vision? Nothing inherently. The story is immensely well-done and has changed the landscape of MMORPGs forever. Try going back to a little text bubble quest game. The vision of multi-team flashpoints with the ROTJ Attack On Endor/Death Star II as the "Holy Grail" of flashpoint design, with a team in space, a team on the ground, and a team on the Death Star. The vision of the Legacy system, replicating the central core Skywalker family and its interactions amongst its members. The vision of a fantastic ground game experience married to a compelling and playable space game experience, with further developments on the way and a complete break from the rails in motion.

 

There's nothing wrong with the vision of this game's developers, IMHO.

 

Most of what I can see that's wrong with how this game has unfolded is that a million or so gamers thought this was supposed to be SWG2, even though no one ever said that's what the game would be. The silver lining, however, is that at least most of them bought the core game and helped recoup the game's development costs, leaving it with a great opportunity to be highly profitable going forward.

 

For that, those of us who will be playing for years to come thank you and appreciate your contributions toward making this an awesome game for the rest of us. I'm sure the development team and management teams are also thankful that so many people bought the game even though their expectations were completely out of line with reality. They may not be able to say as much openly as to that specific reason, but I'm sure they are appreciative.

 

You had excellent points, right up until the line i underlined for you. I absolutely agree that the vision of the developers in many respects was excellent. The problem is not the players, however, but in the execution of that vision. Class stories are awesome, but all the other missions that make up about 80% of the game is pretty good the first time, ok the second, and approaching godawful by the 3rd+ time you play through it. Leveling is too fast and consists of too much world/random missions rather than deeper and more expansive class missions.

 

The PvP you describe is nothing more than an idea as literally no aspect of it can currently be seen ingame. PvP concepts are great when you're 2+ years out from release, not 6 months into the live game. They royally dropped the ball with Ilum and no one knows how long the scramble to repair it will take -- but the damage has been done and PvPers know they have a lot of other options out there.

 

You can defend the developer's vision for the game all you want, and i'd say you are wise to do so. The problems lie in the execution of that vision, however, not in how the players received it.

[Rafaman]

That's pretty funny because the exact same thing can be said about a lot of gamers. They think that because they don't like a game or some aspects of a game, they know more about what a developer "should have done" than the developers themselves.

 

The biggest "problem" with SWTOR is it's maturity (how long it's been around). If people would get over their incessant need for instant gratification and let the game have time to mature, most of the problems would fix themselves. But since nearly everyone posting threads like this wants the game to be perfect RIGHT NOW, which can't possibly happen, they decide to say the game is a failure and proclaim that they are abandoning the sinking ship before it's too late.

 

The best thing that Bioware can do is to take their time and fix things right even if it takes too long for all the folks who need instant gratification. Odds are that those folks won't get their gratification from the other games they're looking forward to, either. And by that time, maybe SWTOR will have evolved into something that can keep them busy for a couple more months, until their need for something new and exciting kicks in and makes them leave again.

 

Yea... I agree for the most part with this. Developers don't think they are elite gamers. I work with devs, not anything related to this, but generally its a profession like any other. Some are dedicated, some are not. Some are trying to change the gaming landscape and others are just trying to feed the kids. So... TORs flaws are not from an over developed sense of value on the developers part.

 

Having said that, I think that this is just a case of a poorly thought out marketing and delivery strategy over all. They gave people way too much of what they wanted in terms of content from the outset. Yes... I said the gave us too much. Had they piece mealed out the chapters and endgame content, and set everyone's expectations differently, people wouldn't get enough of this game. It's that simple.

 

I'm reminded of the old MIB quote:

 

"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Everything they've ever "known" has been proven to be wrong. A thousand years ago everybody knew as a fact, that the earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew that the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on it. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow."

Edited June 2, 2012 by Rafaman

[mattgyver]

That's pretty funny because the exact same thing can be said about a lot of gamers. They think that because they don't like a game or some aspects of a game, they know more about what a developer "should have done" than the developers themselves.

 

The biggest "problem" with SWTOR is it's maturity (how long it's been around). If people would get over their incessant need for instant gratification and let the game have time to mature, most of the problems would fix themselves. But since nearly everyone posting threads like this wants the game to be perfect RIGHT NOW, which can't possibly happen, they decide to say the game is a failure and proclaim that they are abandoning the sinking ship before it's too late.

 

The best thing that Bioware can do is to take their time and fix things right even if it takes too long for all the folks who need instant gratification. Odds are that those folks won't get their gratification from the other games they're looking forward to, either. And by that time, maybe SWTOR will have evolved into something that can keep them busy for a couple more months, until their need for something new and exciting kicks in and makes them leave again.

 

What mythical uber-patient audience was the game made to appeal to? If what you say is true then the character of the consumer should have been well known from the begining of development, unless your premise is that all of the impatient ADHD types suddenly came into being around 12-20-11 and became the lost subs of this game.

[Kthx]

They foolishly believe that transfers and LFG tools will fix their single player MMO.

 

These are two of the things the community is clamoring the loudest for the devs to add to the game.

[NRN_Hawk]

/sign to most of the things Plumz posted

 

I'm a diehard SWTOR player, about 900 hrs of playing it already, that's more i got with idling Orgrimmar for years, but you just wait and wait and wait and nothing happens, instead they fire people and say soon soon soon, soon is tomorrow not in two months. We all are talking about it's time to act now in /1 for months.

[jimmyjediknight]

ppl are never happy thats what they ask for yet still whine... those of us who like the game will stay those who dont like it leave already stop stinking up the forums lol there must be a reason why they are still here.

These are two of the things the community is clamoring the loudest for the devs to add to the game.

[Yakito]

You say the game needs a huge overhaul, yet you do not offer suggestions or ideas as to what needs to change.

 

Trust me. Bioware hears you and understand what the community are asking for but it takes time.

 

When I see people say things like these it makes me laugh...

You know, he's not getting paid to develop this game, he's only a customer and for the record the community has given the Developers hundreds and thousands of ideas on how to improve the game, yet the Devs seem to know better and that's why they are in such a mess right now.

Please think twice before writing something.

[mattgyver]

These are two of the things the community is clamoring the loudest for the devs to add to the game.

 

It will put people together so they can experience boredom en masse

[Florial]

Honestly I was excited for this game. I play what is perhaps the best MMO on the market right now, eq2. (notice I said best, not how many subs it has) and even that has it's share of problems. EVERY MMO has problems to start. WoW used to have incredibly long queues to get into servers on a consistent basis, and crashed and was patched every other day it seemed during it's first few months of existence. However back then, the market was a lot more lenient of such things, and obv it all worked out in the end for WoW.

 

You made some very good points in your post and I would like to expand on your EQ2 comment. I adored EQ2 (never played EQ) and played that for many years. EQ2 had so many things that I truly loved in a game---amazing crafting system where you could be a crafter at heart and it took quite a bit of dedication, amazing housing system with free form decorating, good guild stuff, collections (love my shinies) and so many other things that I'm forgetting. EQ2 had a..........depth to it. Activities to entertain you in so many ways that just wasn't about doing dailies and grinding for gear. Of course EQ2 had gear grinds and I did get on those treadmills to raid a bit. I just found so much more to keep me interested.

 

I also enjoyed the group content and actually spent many of my play session with my guildies. It had some epic quest lines that could take you months to complete (the Claymore series). We spent many an evening down in some dungeon, chatting and waiting for whatever boss you needed to kill to spawn. EQ2 had a bit more camping than I was used to but it forced you to socialize and get to know your groupmates pretty well. I thought that EQ2 did so many things right and had many of the elements that I love in an MMO. If SWTOR had some of EQ2's depth, I would probably stick around a bit more. I do like SWTOR but as others have said, it feels like a well done single player game.

 

I know that no game is perfect at launch. I can tolerate bugs and unpolished content. However, there are so many things that would have been awesome in SWTOR. For example, I was excited about customizing my ship. Or as I'm out and about in Dromand Kass, I look at all the interesting buildings and wish that I could have an apartment somewhere. My personal house. What about some neat hobbies like pod racing, gambling, etc. Whenever I enter a casino, it calls out for minigames. Heck, just let us sit in chairs.

 

Although my sub is lapsing, I will have fond memories of this game and will defend it somewhat to the naysayers in other gaming communities. Will I be back? Probably, it all depends if they add things that I love in an MMO. We shall see. I haven't written off SWTOR yet.

 

Oh and my comments are from a casual gamer. I think this game desperately needs server merges, LFG tools and all that good stuff that is coming down the road. The legacy system was a great idea and I see that as giving one long term goals to work on. I also love the class stories, the companions and would love to see more companion activites at least once you reach endgame. It was fun getting there but once the companions are maxed out, it just becomes blah.

Edited June 2, 2012 by Florial

[kilosoldier]

When I see people say things like these it makes me laugh...

You know, he's not getting paid to develop this game, he's only a customer and for the record the community has given the Developers hundreds and thousands of ideas on how to improve the game, yet the Devs seem to know better and that's why they are in such a mess right now.

Please think twice before writing something.

 

All these pod casters dedicated to one game only have a vested interest in the game they cover. They make money through their web sites and can be far from objective when looking at things involving the game as well as become to close to the developers themselves. They are all to be taken with a grain of salt most of the time when looking at a games that has issues, especially SWTOR

[jimmyjediknight]

you do know this takes time they just cant roll a d6 an do a magic chant to make all this stuff happen now. no one knows what changes are coming in 1.4 and 1.5 1.6

When I see people say things like these it makes me laugh...

You know, he's not getting paid to develop this game, he's only a customer and for the record the community has given the Developers hundreds and thousands of ideas on how to improve the game, yet the Devs seem to know better and that's why they are in such a mess right now.

Please think twice before writing something.

[FourTwent]

Class stories are awesome, but all the other missions that make up about 80% of the game is pretty good the first time, ok the second, and approaching godawful by the 3rd+ time you play through it. Leveling is too fast and consists of too much world/random missions rather than deeper and more expansive class missions.

 

What other MMO has a better story during the leveling process. . .and doesn't become boring on your 3rd playthrough?

 

And then you say leveling is too fast. . .but those missions are boring :/ Would you rather it be longer so that you're more bored with the planet quest lines?

 

I mean, it's not like Bioware makes you watch the dialog. Just spacebar it and it'll be like every other MMO(but at least you got to experience that epic storyline the first time around).

[Darth_Gao_Gao]

i agree to an extent, but would word it this way: bioware and the rest of the "AAA" companies are simply too cowardly to attempt anything unique or grand. that's why every single new release we are seeing is just garbage that follows the typical w0w model. sure, there is tera, but it's only selling point is **** physics and "tabless combat", along with an unhealthy dose of ephebophilia.

 

in the end, despite what lots of people are saying, i think there is a demand for something fresh(er). that freshness is, of course, a sandbox. sandbox games, from a big companies point of view, cater to a "niche" market. games like Eve have a small but dedicated sub base, and as such, big companies of course refuse to take that path despite the fact that it's the only viable path that just hasn't been utilized properly. the themepark MMO design is just terrible and everyone is starting to realize it. once TERA and "the secret world" (what a joke of a concept) fail miserably, and TOR keeps bleeding subs, perhaps the AAA companies will wake up and get some balls. only then can they take a chance with an actual unique concept for a game.

 

imagine if a small studio like the one that is developing The Repopulation had the funding that bioware had? that game would be amazing. sadly, they have no money, and their game will be just another niche game. bioware, if they had any brains and balls, would sack up, and realize that they can maintain their little themepark while adding sandbox elements. this would please literally everyone, and the risk would be minimal. unfortunately, they are too embedded in their "story driven MMO" concept, and plus, their engine doesn't promote a sandbox because it can't function with over 16 people in an area. the game is flawed on a very fundamental level, and any improvements brought to the game are limited by this cold hard fact.

 

the game is pretty much screwed in terms of its growth. they'll never get to their previous 1.7m subs, and the sad part is they don't care. they made their money, and will release easy garbage from time to time to mitigate the decline until the ride is over. enjoy standing around in fleet, like a bunch of nerfherders. this standing action should be a bit more enjoyable with "super servers", but it'll still be the same garbage that we experience now.

 

tl:dr: companies these days are cowards. there is no more creativity in the business anymore. support indie developers. they are our only hope.