Returning Player, Looking for Sage Advice

[Ultimatum]

I've resubbed (was hoping to give it a month) in order to play with a friend.

 

A few things that turned me off since I left --

 

1) My characters were moved. I'm fine with this. But all of my names required a change. Why did I pre-buy a collector's edition for the early access to pick names for my characters only to have them changed? And no I'm not referring to level 1 "placeholder" characters. These ranged from 20-50. Each and Every character.

 

2) My 50 was put on one server, my other characters on another. That's nice; however, since the friend I was planning to play with was on the server without the 50, any real legacy perks I unlocked are inaccessable. Oh yeah, I don't even have the option to move my level 50. Seriously, why isn't the legacy system account wide? Why isn't there an option to transfer characters? I know you can do it since you moved my pre-existing characters and I can copy them to test.

 

(These first two are some pretty significant turn-offs to a returning player)

 

3) Getting over this shock it was time to start playing. It seems they've improved character responsiveness quite a bit... until I entered PVP after picking my advanced class. Still better than it was but, overall, not as good as PvP in other games (responsiveness only not referring to the battlegrounds themselves - still love the idea behind Huttball, I do like Voidstar, etc.). It still seems certain classes are heavily favored or have significant advantages.

 

4) The community is worse than when I left? Maybe its just the few times I've logged in and tried to play, but the general chat has been horrible and players seem worse than ever. Maybe its just all the sub 20 content and zones, but I can't quite recall when I've encountered such a dearth of ... For those of you suggesting turn off general chat, etc. - I'm not playing a single player game. I'm not playing a standard multiplayer game. I'm playing and paying (for now) for an MMO.

 

5) I found the social aspects a bit lacking around initial release (features just not fully fleshed out etc.), but the feel of the game is still comes off as being overly linear and more solo-based. What has been done to address the social aspects (or lack thereof) on the journey to 50?

 

6) The Interface is still horribly clunky. Sure there's a few customization options, but seriously... after a year, there's no drastic improvement? How do I click on items that are "locked" to my bar (I know I should be hotkeying - and I do but there's too many abilities and items, etc. even pre- level 20) like a reusable med-pack and still have it removed from the bar? The bar was locked. Chat window Opacity is still a PITA.

 

7) Bugs - There's still some pretty basic bugs. Why must it immediately crash to desktop when I leave a Flashpoint? After speaking to many people this appears to be common. Just one example.

 

8) Heroic Combat - I don't feel very heroic when a companion is needed to experience content. Its even worse when certain situations force me to use a specific companion.

 

When I cancelled my subscription prior, it was because RL was busy and I still thought the game had some amazing potential, but from what I've seen in a few days, if anything I'm only more frustrated with what I see now.

 

Has there been any drastic changes or improvement? (aside from the cash grab of the cartel?)

 

I'm looking for a potential reason to stay and dive back in to the content, but after a few short days, I'm already finding myself frustrated. Is the story really worth it if I've already leveled a character to 50? Is that all I have to look forward to - or is there something else I'm missing?

[Khevar]

Unfortunately, it's likely that those things that turned you off to begin with may still cause you frustration today.

 

I do understand all the points you make, and in my personal experience, you're likely to run into most of those during current gameplay.

 

That said, I find myself continuing to come back to TOR. On a personal basis, I like leveling experience, and the class quests. The xp perks and the xp boost consumable have allowed me to level my characters with a minimum of repeated side quests that I've seen before.

 

More recently, I've been skipping all side quests, and doing the basic class quest a few space missions and the bonus series for a planets that I haven't seen before. Doing this, I've really enjoyed the stories, and how the interact with one another.

 

The other thing is, I found a group of really good people that I do end-game stuff with. They're friendly, funny, and sometimes we'll even get into voice chat when were not playing TOR. This has also helped get through the end-game. There isn't a lot of it, but I find it moderately difficult and quite fun when played with a good group.

 

Good luck, and I hope you find a groove that works for you.

[TheNahash]

1) My characters were moved. I'm fine with this. But all of my names required a change. Why did I pre-buy a collector's edition for the early access to pick names for my characters only to have them changed? And no I'm not referring to level 1 "placeholder" characters. These ranged from 20-50. Each and Every character.

 

This is something that has been extensively discussed on this forum.

You are not the only one that happened to. Others (myself included) have had their characters move to a different server and had to change names twice. So I get how annoying it is, but seriously this is one of those things that you just have to get over. Double a letter, add a " ' " or something but the way names work in this game, there can be no identical names.

Also, you're saying that you pre-ordered a collector's edition for the early access to pick names for your characters. Well...who says the person who's using that name in the server you transferred to didn't do the exact same thing?

And also, who says that person didn't stay and not quit the game?

 

2) My 50 was put on one server, my other characters on another. That's nice; however, since the friend I was planning to play with was on the server without the 50, any real legacy perks I unlocked are inaccessable. Oh yeah, I don't even have the option to move my level 50. Seriously, why isn't the legacy system account wide? Why isn't there an option to transfer characters? I know you can do it since you moved my pre-existing characters and I can copy them to test.

 

Have you tried contacting the CS?

If I'm not mistaken people with similar issues were given the chance to move their characters to another server.

 

3) Getting over this shock it was time to start playing. It seems they've improved character responsiveness quite a bit... until I entered PVP after picking my advanced class. Still better than it was but, overall, not as good as PvP in other games (responsiveness only not referring to the battlegrounds themselves - still love the idea behind Huttball, I do like Voidstar, etc.). It still seems certain classes are heavily favored or have significant advantages.

 

Balancing the classes is a very hard thing to achieve. One minor tweak and they could gimp the entire spec. Having a main that's been nerfed and then nerfed some more, I know really well what a pain that can be but with the expansion coming soon, this will definitely change. Might be for the worse, might be for the better, but until then we can't know for sure.

 

4) The community is worse than when I left? Maybe its just the few times I've logged in and tried to play, but the general chat has been horrible and players seem worse than ever. Maybe its just all the sub 20 content and zones, but I can't quite recall when I've encountered such a dearth of ... For those of you suggesting turn off general chat, etc. - I'm not playing a single player game. I'm not playing a standard multiplayer game. I'm playing and paying (for now) for an MMO.

 

This is something we can't blame Bioware for.

Take a look around the forum and you will see for yourself how many people are acting like spoiled little children. It's not Bioware's fault that people are acting like idiots nor is there anything they can do to improve that.

Communities in general are a very complicated issue. Unfortunately, Star Wars is a game that appeals to a wide range of people - from teenagers to 60-year-olds, because the story is much more well-known and loved than other MMOs (like, for instance, Eve Online).

Add to that the fact that now with F2P practically anyone can level at least one character to 50 and I think you get the picture.

 

5) I found the social aspects a bit lacking around initial release (features just not fully fleshed out etc.), but the feel of the game is still comes off as being overly linear and more solo-based. What has been done to address the social aspects (or lack thereof) on the journey to 50?

 

The addition of Group Finder is the only thing that comes to mind, to be honest. You can form a group much easier now than you could early on, but this can only help the social aspect of the game if people WANT to be social. If someone just wants to do the FP or OP and don't really care to chat, then again I think it's unfair to criticize Bioware for something they shouldn't have to enforce upon us.

 

6) The Interface is still horribly clunky. Sure there's a few customization options, but seriously... after a year, there's no drastic improvement? How do I click on items that are "locked" to my bar (I know I should be hotkeying - and I do but there's too many abilities and items, etc. even pre- level 20) like a reusable med-pack and still have it removed from the bar? The bar was locked. Chat window Opacity is still a PITA.

 

There are a bunch of way to customize your UI. You can even find premade customizations if you google it.

And as for items being removed from quickbars, that has NEVER happened to me - at least not unless I had accidentally unlocked the quickbar and just forgot to lock it again, so I'm inclined to think you just forgot to lock your quickbar.

 

7) Bugs - There's still some pretty basic bugs. Why must it immediately crash to desktop when I leave a Flashpoint? After speaking to many people this appears to be common. Just one example.

 

And there will always be bugs.

If it's not crashing to desktop it will be with a quest. If it's not with a quest it will be with an armor set etc etc.

Bugs in games and especially in MMOs are a pretty common thing and they're never, ever over.

 

8) Heroic Combat - I don't feel very heroic when a companion is needed to experience content. Its even worse when certain situations force me to use a specific companion.

 

The game is built around the fact that you'll be leveling with a companion. Companions are a part of the story therefore them being next to you when you're questing is also part of the game. If you don't want them around, you can still solo most content with adequate ccing and clever tactics, but again, this is not how the game was designed to be played.

Heroic Ability was also changed to requiring an active companion because it was being misused in PvP early on.

As for "forcing you to use a specific companion" other than those very, very few parts of your class quests that require one specific companion, I do not see the problem. Even then you can just clear up everything with any companion you want (or solo) and just call the needed companion for the cutscence.

 

I'm looking for a potential reason to stay and dive back in to the content, but after a few short days, I'm already finding myself frustrated. Is the story really worth it if I've already leveled a character to 50? Is that all I have to look forward to - or is there something else I'm missing?

 

If you can't find a reason to stay, you shouldn't stay.

I'm not trying to be rude here, but what's the point of other people telling you how 'bad' or 'good' the game is when you can already experience it for yourself and see if it's worth your time and money?

Other people's opinions are just that: opinions. You might agree or disagree but you won't know until you try it out.

If you don't think SWTOR is good enough to keep you entertained, then I personally think you should find another game that is closer to what you're looking for.

For example, for me the fact that I do not have to sit around in the fleet looking for a group to do a FP, but instead I can just keep on questing on whatever planet and port to the FP (and back to the planet I was in when the FPs done), is a massive improvement over what was the case in the first few months.

Also, I really enjoy the fact that they've removed bags for PVP gear, therefore making gearing up much easier than it used to be.

But you might find both of these completely irrelevant to what you want from the game.

Edited February 8, 2013 by TheNahash

[Ultimatum]

Thanks for taking the time to reply, much appreciated

 

Also, you're saying that you pre-ordered a collector's edition for the early access to pick names for your characters. Well...who says the person who's using that name in the server you transferred to didn't do the exact same thing?

And also, who says that person didn't stay and not quit the game?

 

I get it... just frustrating that it was ALL of my characters. Not even one name stuck lol. I guess the lesson maybe is more that I should have made level 1 characters on each server to claim the name rather than just made the names on the servers I was playing

 

Have you tried contacting the CS?

If I'm not mistaken people with similar issues were given the chance to move their characters to another server.

 

Thanks - I'll look into this, I didn't realize it was an option based on what I had read up on character transfers. I realize it may not be a huge deal for some, but I have no desire to repeat say a Chiss IA from 0-50, etc.

 

 

Balancing the classes is a very hard thing to achieve. One minor tweak and they could gimp the entire spec. Having a main that's been nerfed and then nerfed some more, I know really well what a pain that can be but with the expansion coming soon, this will definitely change. Might be for the worse, might be for the better, but until then we can't know for sure.

 

I don't expect perfection... I guess after a year I expected it to be a little more finely tuned (and a bit more responsive, given that it was such a huge issue when I left). As I said, I can tell some improvement has been done... maybe I just expected too much after a year away.

 

This is something we can't blame Bioware for.

Take a look around the forum and you will see for yourself how many people are acting like spoiled little children. It's not Bioware's fault that people are acting like idiots nor is there anything they can do to improve that.

Communities in general are a very complicated issue. Unfortunately, Star Wars is a game that appeals to a wide range of people - from teenagers to 60-year-olds, because the story is much more well-known and loved than other MMOs (like, for instance, Eve Online). Add to that the fact that now with F2P practically anyone can level at least one character to 50 and I think you get the picture.

 

I get this as well. Honestly barrens chat would have been more tolerable (sorry for the comparison, but in my experience "barrens chat" seems to be the most universally infamous). I guess what shocked me was that on multiple nights people were trying to be as deliberately offensive as possible (without necessarily using profanity, which btw... I get and there's a filter for). I understand people being silly especially in those lower areas that are more heavily populated. But the constant themes during my play session (religion, etc.) suprised me a bit more rather what I was expecting.

 

 

The addition of Group Finder is the only thing that comes to mind, to be honest. You can form a group much easier now than you could early on, but this can only help the social aspect of the game if people WANT to be social. If someone just wants to do the FP or OP and don't really care to chat, then again I think it's unfair to criticize Bioware for something they shouldn't have to enforce upon us.

 

I noticed and used the instance finder. I did note that the queues seemed faster as well (for both FP and PVP). Guess I was hoping for something that encouraged grouping a bit more outside of those environments. Yes, I do understand that in the end its up to the individual player, but from I've seen (speaking to people in game, forum searches, etc.), many still view solo as more efficient, productive, and ultimately more rewarding. In addition, it seems the experience is still quite off so that you end up quite a bit lower if you group rather than solo, which can leave you hamstrung at certain points.

 

There are a bunch of way to customize your UI. You can even find premade customizations if you google it.

And as for items being removed from quickbars, that has NEVER happened to me - at least not unless I had accidentally unlocked the quickbar and just forgot to lock it again, so I'm inclined to think you just forgot to lock your quickbar.

 

I thought the same thing. It happened only twice, once in PVP once not in PVP. Both times it was locked Perhaps just two strokes of bad luck, one time surrounding my demise lol. I will admit both times it involved clicking on medical items (pvp health/ the purple med pack). I'll chalk it up to being extremely unlucky

 

 

 

And there will always be bugs.

If it's not crashing to desktop it will be with a quest. If it's not with a quest it will be with an armor set etc etc.

Bugs in games and especially in MMOs are a pretty common thing and they're never, ever over.

 

Understood. I focused mainly on what I considered to be critical in this case - something that completely forced me out of the game (e.g. no error nothing, just a pop right to desktop). I also would have ignored it, if it wasn't repeatable (e.g. every time I run and finish the Black Talon, after choosing a destination) and also wasn't happening to most others my level that I talked to.

 

If you can't find a reason to stay, you shouldn't stay.

I'm not trying to be rude here, but what's the point of other people telling you how 'bad' or 'good' the game is when you can already experience it for yourself and see if it's worth your time and money?

Other people's opinions are just that: opinions. You might agree or disagree but you won't know until you try it out.

If you don't think SWTOR is good enough to keep you entertained, then I personally think you should find another game that is closer to what you're looking for.

For example, for me the fact that I do not have to sit around in the fleet looking for a group to do a FP, but instead I can just keep on questing on whatever planet and port to the FP (and back to the planet I was in when the FPs done), is a massive improvement over what was the case in the first few months.

Also, I really enjoy the fact that they've removed bags for PVP gear, therefore making gearing up much easier than it used to be.

But you might find both of these completely irrelevant to what you want from the game.

 

Mostly, I'm looking to know if things get better once I get past a certain curve... I understand how it works. As I tried to note, I've only put a few evenings in since returning and likely am starting the leveling process over. I guess this is why I put this out there. Does it get better past the initial starting planet/second world (e.g. Hutta/Korriban and DK), or do the issues continue on throughout the rest of the way to 50? Has enough improvement been done around lvl 50 to make it more viable to keep playing a "main" or is the expectation still centered around you hitting 50 and ... well do it over again with a different storyline?

 

Maybe I was unlucky and the friend is just playing on the wrong server? (and I need to work on him to try something different).

 

Thanks for taking the time to respond

[TheNahash]

I get it... just frustrating that it was ALL of my characters. Not even one name stuck lol. I guess the lesson maybe is more that I should have made level 1 characters on each server to claim the name rather than just made the names on the servers I was playing

 

Trust me, that wouldn't have made a difference. When I first transferred to my current server, I had to add a letter to all my characters' names (and change those that I didn't think adding a letter made sense), which I hated but after a while it just stopped bothering me. So when the second wave of transfers came (the one where they essentially took all small and "dead" servers and merged them into few others) I wasn't transferred but STILL had to change 2-3 names, because apparently the system could now differentiate between origin and destination servers after the merge. Which is even more frustrating because that means people who didn't bother to transfer when the first transfers were available or people who had just stopped playing and may never play the game again, took names that I was using. Again, it sucked big time, but...meh...doesn't bother me anymore.

 

 

I get this as well. Honestly barrens chat would have been more tolerable (sorry for the comparison, but in my experience "barrens chat" seems to be the most universally infamous). I guess what shocked me was that on multiple nights people were trying to be as deliberately offensive as possible (without necessarily using profanity, which btw... I get and there's a filter for). I understand people being silly especially in those lower areas that are more heavily populated. But the constant themes during my play session (religion, etc.) suprised me a bit more rather what I was expecting.

 

I never experienced Barrens chat myself but I am familiar with its infamy

I'm not saying that the server I'm in is a great place where trolls don't exist, but I rarely see people talking about stuff like that (religion etc.) in general chat. Then again there are a lot of racist comments, because it's an EU server so I guess each server has its own issues. Unfortunately, other than reporting and ignoring people, there is not much we can do about it.

 

I noticed and used the instance finder. I did note that the queues seemed faster as well (for both FP and PVP). Guess I was hoping for something that encouraged grouping a bit more outside of those environments. Yes, I do understand that in the end its up to the individual player, but from I've seen (speaking to people in game, forum searches, etc.), many still view solo as more efficient, productive, and ultimately more rewarding. In addition, it seems the experience is still quite off so that you end up quite a bit lower if you group rather than solo, which can leave you hamstrung at certain points.

 

Right now we have:

Group Finder to help us find groups easier

More XP and better loot for people who are grouped than people who solo.

I don't see how Bioware could add something more than these without players feeling forced to group. I know, I know... "it's an MMO" but trust me people hate grouping up. A few months ago, when the questline for HK-51 was released, people were filling up the forum with hate posts about how wrong it is that Bioware forces them to "group" and do two flashpoints, because they like to play solo and Bioware is not respecting their wishes. Go figure...

 

Mostly, I'm looking to know if things get better once I get past a certain curve... I understand how it works. As I tried to note, I've only put a few evenings in since returning and likely am starting the leveling process over. I guess this is why I put this out there. Does it get better past the initial starting planet/second world (e.g. Hutta/Korriban and DK), or do the issues continue on throughout the rest of the way to 50? Has enough improvement been done around lvl 50 to make it more viable to keep playing a "main" or is the expectation still centered around you hitting 50 and ... well do it over again with a different storyline?

 

It depends.

First of all, of course things get better once you get past those first planets. After all, people learn to play their classes as they go and you can expect people who are really, really bad at those first few levels to be at least OK further on. As for the game itself, I don't think that there are any other critical bugs after Black Talon/Esseles. At least for me there aren't. Nothing that spoils the game, anyway.

As for 50s...that's another story.

If you enjoyed those first raids you are going to love the next ones (Terror From Beyond and Explosive Conflict). There are more daily areas to visit, better gear to get and you can now choose the look you want without having to sacrifice your stats. With 1.7 they're also adding a reputation system so you'll have more reasons to visit planets once you hit 50.

...but...

if you hated the raids (their mechanics etc) I doubt you'll see anything different in the new ones. There are still very few things for a 50 to do and yes the game is still focused on "you hit 50? Great! Now roll an alt!" (after all, they want us to keep playing and paying).

It essentially all comes down to how you like to play. If you find a guild, raiding, pvping, crafting and even dailies can be really fun. If not, I don't know...

Edited February 9, 2013 by TheNahash

[Jaden_Antilles]

 

More XP and better loot for people who are grouped than people who solo.

 

.

 

This is only true if both/all players are on the same "plan". IE everyone in the group has to be F2P, or preferred, or subbed. I play with my cousin a lot on my shadow, we're almost always grouped. He is a preferred player, and I am subbed. He gets twice the exp per kill when he's solo. For quests he gets a bit more exp than when we do similar quests grouped (since quests don't give the exact same exp is a little harder to confirm the difference).