The game reputation is kinda ''terminal phase'' at this point.

[simplius]

Bioware/EA needed to accept these 2 things as reality and rather than compete with WoW and all the fantasy mmos, they needed to simply focus on Starwars and the starwars fanbase.

 

Justin Beiber makes music that alot of people buy but that will never appeal to the Pantera fans, Pantera sells alot less tickets than Justin Beiber but that does not mean Pantera is not a better product, its just appeals to smaller and much different audience.

 

SWTOR needed to not care about the existance of WoW or GW2, They needed to simply focus on building an awesome Starwars game.

 

SWTOR needs to become the Pantera of Starwars.

 

SWTOR has the one thing that WoW and GW2 will never have, STAR WARS.

 

nice spin on ur favorite band:D,,yes, wow is doing a justin now, but until mop, wow was ABBA

 

and now this game IS the pantera of games,,yes it has qualities , but only to a small audience

 

thats why its going F2P,,im still waiting for the first MOZART of mmos,,perhaps titan? future will show

[Eillack]

Many would argue that perception is reality. But in this case.... its far from it. The good news in is that as long as TOR is a revenue stream, despite what nay sayers may say, the game is not dead. Not by a long shot.

 

I don't worry too much about what the self proclaimed experts think about this game. I'm having a great deal of fun playing and I'm not alone. Our guild is going strong and all indications are that it will continue for years to come.

 

^ This here.

[Fornix]

Look at the cestpool on mmorpg.com which is one, if not *the* most popular site on MMOs.

 

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/367/view/forums/forum/893/General-Discussion.html

 

What once used to be, mmorpg.com is now far from the most popular site on mmo's. It's development team has let the community completely go down the drain as they kept on allowing people who don't even play a game to keep on ranting and ranting about it for years. Hardhly anybody who actually plays a certain game, is found in the boards there.

 

Just look at this thread for example:

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/367/view/forums/thread/359289/page/1

 

On the first few pages alone roughly 7 people who play, versus roughly 60 who do not play. In other words, about 90% of the players who are throwing about their rants over there, don't even play the game.

[Thaed]

The main issue with a lot of the people hating on the game, I believe, is that Bioware lied (or at least mislead us). Here's a quick list of things that they've been promising but are yet to deliver (off the top of my head):

 

*Chat bubbles.

*Sitting down.

*Space Combat revamp.

*Continuing Class Story content.

*Performance fixes (I don't suffer from serious performance issues personally, though many people do. You can't chalk it down to bad computers, either; one of the reasons for Bioware to choose SW:TOR's art style was so that it would run on lower-end computers).

*Avid crafters would be well sought after.

*Neutral allignment gear (promised since beta).

*Full gear customisation (somewhat achieved after many months of complaining, though not all gear sets are available as modifiable outfits).

*Claimed that PvE would be completely different to other MMOs.

 

The other issue is that SW:TOR doesn't offer much that other games don't:

 

*Graphically falls flat. The other reason they choce their art style was so that it wouldn't look out-dated. This is my personal opinion, but it already looks outdated to me.

*Environment and exploration is lackluster. There are a few planets that are visually pleasing and no planets that are overly exciting to explore, from an environmental viewpoint. Pathing on some planets *cough Belsavis and Coruscant cough* is a complete nightmare, with paths blocked off that just... shouldn't be.

 

(I know people will jump on me for this, but exploration is one area that GW2 got right, no questions asked. The landscapes are stunning and varied across the board, there is an immense attention to detail and there are reasons to explore beyond looking up a guide to find a datacron.)

 

*SW:TOR has no achievements. The codex, sure, but that's not an actual achievement system and it's hella buggy.

*I don't really have qualms with PvP, though many do. Regardless, PvP was more exciting to me in WoW, with more varied battlegrounds and more reactive characters. Hell, I'd put League of Legends down for funner PvP than either of the two, and that game is completely free.

*PvE is no different to WoW's. The devs said that there wouldn't be any "40 guys standing around beating on one big guy, because that's just not fun". What they delivered was 4, 8 and x (world bosses) amount of guys standing around beating on one big guy. Sometimes with adds (like every other MMO). Oh, and some fairly easy puzzle bosses.

 

So, why am I still playing this game? Because Bioware got one thing right: the story (and, by association, the voiceovers). The story that Bioware offers is the one thing that differs from other MMOs. For me, this game's only saving grace. I will continue to play until I've completed all eight stories, and I will continue to play so long as new class stories are released. The thing is, Bioware seem to have shelved that too, releasing more-of-the-same daily quests, more-of-the-same PvP warzones and more-of-the-same PvE instances. They seem to be looking at the stagnent parts of their game, thinking "right, how can we improve this?", giving up and just rehashing the same thing we've seen countless times before.

 

I don't hate this game. Like I said, I still enjoy the class quests. But beyond those, I can get a better experience from any other MMO. I don't feel robbed or cheated, I'm perfectly happy with my investment. What I am is disappointed. Disappointed that this game had so much potential yet suffered from poor development choices and over-hyping.

[NinjaApacHe]

Hope all the doomers will find a better game to play and leave early. Edited November 12, 2012 by NinjaApacHe

[Drudenfusz]

I don't think SWTOR is dead or almost dead, but it still has issues. The main problem is that BioWare still just don't get it, the make terrible decissions and are far too slow to address the things they should do. No they go F2P with a model that looks so stupid I can't believe anyone can think it is a good idea to do it that way.

[CaptRavenous]

I don't think that the game is dead....however, many does.

 

http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/bioware-mmo-project/1226628p1.html

At the same time, the free-to-play conversion marks the end of SWTOR's significance as an MMORPG, just under a year after its release.

 

And it's very worrying. The game having the reputaiton of being dead is almost as bad as the game being dead.

 

Gamespy is run by the same kind of people who say "SW:TOR is dead!" here on the forums, jilted players who think all MMOs should only be made for the hardcore players who are in their mid 20s - 30s and still live in their mommy and daddy's basement.

 

F2P and MMOs for the casual player are the way of the future, as casual players are a WAY bigger market than hardcore players, and more prone to spending money on a F2P game to get those perks and benefits that give them every little edge in gameplay.

 

Get used to it.

Edited November 12, 2012 by CaptRavenous

[BogyOne]

4) Still no pazzaak or swoop racing (I honestly find this to be the biggest insult of all the issues)

And I was worried already that game has serious problems.

 

I log my small alt on Korriban on 7am in weekend and - land in instance 2?! Yeah, the game has terrible reputation and is dying if 200 people at very weird time start new characters.

[morfius]

I don't give a bantha backside about such site/s opinion....

We still have our fun in SWTOR

[Galbatorrix]

The only time I ever even think about the "poor" state of the game is when I visit this board. When I'm actually playing, there are players every where, on every planet and I just have tons of fun. *shrugs*

[Xenirath]

nice spin on ur favorite band:D,,yes, wow is doing a justin now, but until mop, wow was ABBA

 

and now this game IS the pantera of games,,yes it has qualities , but only to a small audience

 

thats why its going F2P,,im still waiting for the first MOZART of mmos,,perhaps titan? future will show

 

Oh god "Titan", I keep telling people not to be surprised when Codename: Titan is revealed to be Universe of Starcraft. Until specified otherwise that's my guess. Which Btw I might play

[CelCawdro]

Oh god "Titan", I keep telling people not to be surprised when Codename: Titan is revealed to be Universe of Starcraft. Until specified otherwise that's my guess. Which Btw I might play

 

They did specify that Titan will be an original IP.

[Eillack]

you did perhaps notice that the game started with .. what, 240 Servers and is now down to.. 20 ??

 

You did notice that the amount of servers at first were like it was now for the most part? Then people kept crying and threatening to never play so BW/EA added more servers....then when people started to leave people cried and threatened to never play and we got mergers.

 

The amount of servers was 100% due to QQ'ers.

Edited November 12, 2012 by Eillack

[Xenirath]

They did specify that Titan will be an original IP.

 

I will believe it when I see it

[spectreclees]

They did specify that Titan will be an original IP.

 

With the way Blizzard develops I'm not getting my hopes up. Diablo 3 was a train wreck and Pandaria turned me away from WoW forever.

[CelCawdro]

I will believe it when I see it

 

It's one of the very few bits of solid information that exists on the project. Frankly, I wouldn't be interested if it was a mere continuation of another franchise, particularly if they went back on their word concerning that. Could I see it happening? Sure. But if it were to happen, it would be completely because of corporate pressures that don't like taking a chance on a new IP, and the resulting game would be merely a restrictive skin on a game that wanted to do more.

[Xenirath]

With the way Blizzard develops I'm not getting my hopes up. Diablo 3 was a train wreck and Pandaria turned me away from WoW forever.

 

Yep same, atm the only decent IP they have is Starcraft and that is just a matter of time now.

[Thylbanus]

I don't think that the game is dead....however, many does.

 

http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/bioware-mmo-project/1226628p1.html

At the same time, the free-to-play conversion marks the end of SWTOR's significance as an MMORPG, just under a year after its release.

 

And it's very worrying. The game having the reputaiton of being dead is almost as bad as the game being dead.

 

Having read the article and played the game, it becomes very evident that they wrote the article for attention, not news. Much like media outlets today, making inflammitory statements sells copies. Would you read the article if it stated the truth? Considering that this post exists at all (and the link to the article with all it's adds and popups waiting to make GameSpy some money) is a testament to the success of Leif's pot stirring.

[CelCawdro]

Having read the article and played the game, it becomes very evident that they wrote the article for attention, not news. Much like media outlets today, making inflammitory statements sells copies. Would you read the article if it stated the truth? Considering that this post exists at all (and the link to the article with all it's adds and popups waiting to make GameSpy some money) is a testament to the success of Leif's pot stirring.

 

How much attention do you think the article would have garnered if one of Gamespy's six remaining readers (or employees, if you don't want to give them that much credit) hadn't brought it here?

[FlyinSpaghetti]

We all noticed large amount of players coming back now (subbing to get their cartel coins) and 3/4 of European servers are Heavy - Very Heavy in the evenings. This game is far from dead. Doom to the haters!

 

You're forgetting there was a huge server merge not so long back, and that actual global combined populations are tiny now compared to the first few months from launch.

[Tenceriker]

You're forgetting there was a huge server merge not so long back, and that actual global combined populations are tiny now compared to the first few months from launch.

 

Shh, people can't handle the truth. Although, the F2P launch will keep some people around for a month or so to finish characters they will never play again. So sad, but that's what happens when you rush a game's launch by 6 months.

[Xenirath]

You're forgetting there was a huge server merge not so long back, and that actual global combined populations are tiny now compared to the first few months from launch.

 

I believe we are still only about 500-250 thousand below what was once launch day numbers. At least according to EA's reports that August we has just dropped below 1 million.

[Rayla_Felana]

Shh, people can't handle the truth. Although, the F2P launch will keep some people around for a month or so to finish characters they will never play again. So sad, but that's what happens when you rush a game's launch by 6 months.

 

Yes because players couldn't possibly be coming back(like the endless posts of people claiming such) to experience the game again and obviously, none of them will enjoy it at all.

[Lord_Ravenhurst]

You're forgetting there was a huge server merge not so long back, and that actual global combined populations are tiny now compared to the first few months from launch.

 

Exactly. If a 90% loss of servers, two mergers, followed by F2P aren´t ringing any bells.. we have finally reached the level where fact based discussions are over.

ATM it´s only facts vs. delusion.

[LordArtemis]

It's likely that subs are pretty low at this point. But IMO that becomes less and less relevant as F2P approaches.

 

So let me lend my opinion, which in the end means absolutely nothing.

 

Game detractors in beta, the ones that participated in the most popular threads that predicted things like...

 

The space combat feature will not be received well regardless of the design intent

The game has no sustainability with a lack of casual content and little to no end game

Customization is dangerously light in this game

It is likely the game will have less than 25 percent of it's launch subs in less than a year

The game will go F2P within the first year

It is likely most of the development staff will either leave or be fired before the first 12 months are out

Too much attention was payed on full VO storylines, too little on anything else

The amount of instancing and linear closed pathing on most planets may negatively impact the games ability to retain subs

 

...seem to arguably have been prophetic. It looks like you were right. The game did launch with what was commonly considered by testers to be bad design decisions, poorly implemented features and a lack of casual content and it does seem to some that this could have affected sustainability.

 

It is likely, IMO, many game fans secretly know this to be true but would never admit it. Instead many of them seem to make excuses, some ludicrous, others just plain inaccurate to put spin into play.

 

So yes, you were probably right IMO. You will likely not be told this. Instead you will continue to be derided, told to leave, play something else, insulted, told you are inexperienced, uninformed or misinformed.

 

 

But there is one thing I feel you have to realize...right or not, it doesn't matter now. What is done is done. It's now time, IMO, to move forward.

Edited November 12, 2012 by LordArtemis