Where do you honestly see SWTOR headed?

[Moroder]

So honestly where do you think it is headed? I hope it does well I really do. I have a lot of concerns though. Chief among them being – have they bitten off more than they can chew. By this I mean will we get expansions whereby the storyline is actually progressed? Can they actually afford to add full character and arc storylines that are fully voiced? Will sub numbers settle where by the devs can actually say that the game is being profitable? Will we ever see the hinted at features. The big example being the space section. There was quotes flying around shortly after launch that they had “big plans” for this section of the game.

 

I would also like to see the legacy idea expanded on. Right now NOTHING excites me about it. Apart from maybe plotting a family tree etc. The perks and mcguffins do absolutely nothing for me and I don’t care about them. What I do dream of seeing is crossover stories to so with your legacy tree. Ie meeting your nemesis/spouse/sibling in a storyline. Imagine having legacy storyline where you interact with your legacy characters. A scenario where your bounty hunter nemesis tracks you down pops into my head.

 

I don’t know I really enjoy the game but I fear for it. The one thing I would actually be happy to see are speech bubbles (small I know but I feel it adds to the game. Right now it feels like all characters are mutes).

 

So what is your opinion. What are your fears/concerns for it?

[JacksonMo]

Yea, speech bubbles. That's what we need. More graphics clutter. </sarcasm_off>

 

Have you actually played a game with them? Or seen screen shots of a crowded are crammed full of speech bubbles?

NO! Please God, a thousand times NO!

Even IF they included the option to turn them off, it's still excess rubbish data the computer has to process BEFORE it can block it. More rubbish in the downstream.

Edited February 26, 2013 by JacksonMo

[Toweleeeie]

We will never see class stories again. It will be Empire or Republic stories only. The family tree will never be expanded upon. They are adding Legacy achievements and they look promising.

 

I really hope the new Ops and HM FPs are actually hard. They really need to ramp the difficulty up on this game. The space project better be full open 3D space, anything else ****. I would like more sandbox elements in the game, pref it brings back to worlds that are unused at 50.

 

I really want to see the new gear designs after they heard us "loud and clear". Im still not impresed with the new Makeb gear.

 

I dont see any of this happening. I just see what is happening now over and over till the game is shut down.

[VegaPhone]

They will insult good ideas by saying its on the wall of crazy.

 

Other than them insulting us players without any specific promise of other future content, or using SSSP as a carrot on a stick as something worth waiting for.

 

They dont seem to care, and do not want to communicate. How can anyone make any assumptions about the devs in 'control' of the development, and how it will impact swtor when there is only the past to use as an example.

 

If we are going to use only what exists as a precursor of what is going to exist... well, its not looking good.

 

However, there is that illusive carrot on the stick. What ever that is worth, its being hyped up. It has to be 3d space combat with pvp and guild mechanics.

 

Or I might seriously might have to recommend/wish Sony or whomever to make another SW MMO that is pvp focused... and just not care about the grind that is meant to be rewarding, and lack of pvp feautures which are not my cup of tea.

 

And I think a lot of people have other expectations as well, and if they are not met soon enough, then this game will fail to entertain a large demographic. It will only succeed as a grind, and as a cash shop. This is a AAA game with a large budget, and they turned it into a grind with a cash shop.

Edited February 26, 2013 by VegaPhone

[darthgamer]

They will insult good ideas by saying its on the wall of crazy.

 

Other than them insulting us players without any specific promise of other future content, or using SSSP as a carrot on a stick as something worth waiting for.

 

They dont seem to care, and do not want to communicate. How can anyone make any assumptions about the devs in 'control' of the development, and how it will impact swtor when there is only the past to use as an example.

 

If we are going to use only what exists as a precursor of what is going to exist... well, its not looking good.

 

However, there is that illusive carrot on the stick. What ever that is worth, its being hyped up. It has to be 3d space combat with pvp and guild mechanics.

 

Or I might seriously might have to recommend/wish Sony or whomever to make another SW MMO that is pvp focused... and just not care about the grind that is meant to be rewarding, and lack of pvp feautures which are not my cup of tea.

 

And I think a lot of people have other expectations as well, and if they are not met soon enough, then this game will fail to entertain a large demographic. It will only succeed as a grind, and as a cash shop. This is a AAA game with a large budget, and they turned it into a grind with a cash shop.

 

If they would ever give us Space PvP with friends I would stay as of right now i havent bought Rise yet. And really dont know Ill make that decision after i get into the pts

[Moroder]

Yea, speech bubbles. That's what we need. More graphics clutter. </sarcasm_off>

 

Have you actually played a game with them? Or seen screen shots of a crowded are crammed full of speech bubbles?

NO! Please God, a thousand times NO!

Even IF they included the option to turn them off, it's still excess rubbish data the computer has to process BEFORE it can block it. More rubbish in the downstream.

 

Fair enough you are entitled to your opinion. In every other MMO they have them so I fail to see why we cannot have them in this one. Then again this is down to subjective opinion. I really want the game to succeed. It’s just at the moment I have “0” faith in the devs to turn the ship around and make this game the success it could be.

 

Oh and hands up who misses SWG even the NGE SWG? I Know I sure do (for all its faults)

Edited February 26, 2013 by Moroder

[Stradlin]

Fair enough you are entitled to your opinion. In every other MMO they have them so I fail to see why we cannot have them in this one. Then again this is down to subjective opinion. I really want the game to succeed. It’s just at the moment I have “0” faith in the devs to turn the ship around and make this game the success it could be.

 

Oh and hands up who misses SWG even the NGE SWG? I Know I sure do (for all its faults)

 

Firstly, have you checked SWGEmu? It is a fan undertaking to re-create SWG as it were during it's pre NGE glory days. Currently in open beta, fully playable. Endorsed by former SOE lead dev.

 

TOR seems extremely cold and static. Ways for player chars to interact with game world are extremely limited in number. This is the case even when compared to other WoW clones. Lack of sitting and chat bubbles was all that it took to pretty much ensure vast majority of the potential Roleplaying community was pretty quick to leave TOR among the first.

 

SWTOR is headed for steady stable semi-hibernation where fairly small Dev team works hard to provide ton of cash milking content to dedicated 100k paying subs. Those 100k buying Holo Xmas trees is what ensures occasonal content patch and a dev team that is big enough to occasionally try something exiting. In addition to the dedicated 100k, you'll be having some 40k yo-yoing as a subscriber occasionally before dropping back to F2P. In brief, you will get holo xmas tree and awesome xmas tree mounts this year as well!

Edited February 26, 2013 by Stradlin

[Talahar]

Yea, speech bubbles. That's what we need. More graphics clutter. </sarcasm_off>

 

Have you actually played a game with them? Or seen screen shots of a crowded are crammed full of speech bubbles?

NO! Please God, a thousand times NO!

Even IF they included the option to turn them off, it's still excess rubbish data the computer has to process BEFORE it can block it. More rubbish in the downstream.

Yeah.... speech bubbles don't change anything about the datastream your client is getting. It would be always the stuff you're getting in your chat window regardless. The only difference would be in the display the client on your end is allowing.

It's never been anything else. It's a display issue. You wouldn't see chat out of your reach-of-perception, and the stuff inside your reach of perception is already showing up in your chat window.

The data stream is already there....

And that's actually the reason WHY people are so annoyed that chat bubbles aren't in the game already. The background data is there, the whole problem is a purely display-related one...

[Alduinsm]

_More operations/warzones/flashpoints

_More planets(possibly class stories)

_Achievement/Reputation system expanded

_More events

_New gear customization system(maybe dye option -they hinted at this)

_More vanity stuffs from Cartel Market

_Character Transfer

_Maybe barber shop

_SSSP

_Bug fixes along the way

 

That's where i see Swtor's heading. What matters most is still the time it takes for them to deliver these stuffs.

[FreePrometheus]

First off i am only answering the question in the Threads title. I have not read the OP as i have a good idea what this thread is about

 

I see it heading in the right direction. It took a little time to get going, but it is now on the go. If it had kept going at the slower pace or slowed anymore it would, in my opinion, have been the beginning of the end. I honestly feel it is because of high expectations from certain members of the community that were too high. I have said it time and time again, in so many ways. But here goes, again: This game is still relatively young. We have new content on the way. And we have the cartel market, which means they can introduce smaller bits of new content along the way. I knwo some dislike the CM, but its not a new concept other MMO's i have either played or read about have something similar, almost the same with a different name.

 

SWTOR is finally on the track. Its nowhere near pole position and it might never be. But i dont think its going to be out of the race anytime soon.

 

Regards to all

Edited February 26, 2013 by FreePrometheus

[RuQu]

Firstly, have you checked SWGEmu? It is a fan undertaking to re-create SWG as it were during it's pre NGE glory days. Currently in open beta, fully playable. Endorsed by former SOE lead dev.

 

 

I loved the pre-CU SWG. The class system was awesome. The combat was less "exciting" than WoW, but it was actually quite similar to KOTOR and a reasonable game design decision. The crafting was some of the best, if not the best, in any MMO Ive tried.

 

However, with SWGEmu, the big catch is a pretty giant catch: there is no GUI! You can apparently connect via the old SOE client, but that requires having the disks for a game that took a nosedive years ago.

 

SWGEmu has a command line client, but I'm not sure that will be appealing to anyone.

[Devlonir]

_More operations/warzones/flashpoints

_More planets(possibly class stories)

_Achievement/Reputation system expanded

_More events

_New gear customization system(maybe dye option -they hinted at this)

_More vanity stuffs from Cartel Market

_Character Transfer

_Maybe barber shop

_SSSP

_Bug fixes along the way

 

That's where i see Swtor's heading. What matters most is still the time it takes for them to deliver these stuffs.

 

^^ This

 

Also: Some form of player housing is what I expect in the long run. Be it ship customization or maybe something like 'appartment complexes'.

 

Also, to the poster claiming the 100k stable number long run: Have you even checked torstatus (the holy grail of naysayers when the numbers were going down) over the last months? Since the last number (500k to 1 million subscribers), the servers were relatively stable until F2P and have been growing in activity since F2P launched. Even if we don't have any specific numbers, all things we can measure (including number of people online) point towards the 500k - 1 million number of active players, a large percentage (50% or more) of which are probably subscribers.

 

But yeah, you just sit on your totally unproven and unbased 100k number and ill sit on my, admittedly, also unproven number but with some base in information we do know. And we will just respect each other for our own, unproven, views. I hope.

Edited February 26, 2013 by Devlonir

[kirorx]

With the introduction of the TRON crossover event, I would say....pretty far away from the starwars universe.

 

New Cartel Items Galore. When they run out of KOTOR armor, expect cheesier and cheesier items; already have seen a few.

 

More level caps in a year or so when they run out of content. More recycling of old gear and content.

 

The most important thing.......Change in the Playerbase.

 

When this game came out, there was loud cry for RP elements (sitting in chairs, Chat bubbles), but it seems alot of those people have moved on in favor of other games while the majoirty seem to be the grind for gear crowd.

 

Not saying that one playerbase is better than the other, they just want different things and this game will continue to cater to the majority, which in this case will be the later.

 

Basically, I think RP elements, lore and starwars are the way out here because the current playerbase wants CONTENT (OPS, FLASHPOINTS, GEAR), That crowd I feel will be happy here and i think Bioware will do a great job with more operation and flashpoints.

Edited February 26, 2013 by kirorx

[islander]

Yea, speech bubbles. That's what we need. More graphics clutter. </sarcasm_off>

 

Have you actually played a game with them? Or seen screen shots of a crowded are crammed full of speech bubbles?

NO! Please God, a thousand times NO!

Even IF they included the option to turn them off, it's still excess rubbish data the computer has to process BEFORE it can block it. More rubbish in the downstream.

 

We need chat bubbles something fierce.

 

NO ONE sees spatial chat now. Literally no one.

It's either whisper one person at a time, or don't communicate at all.

 

Using 'emote' is the only thing that even resembles a workaround.

[RuQu]

We need chat bubbles something fierce.

 

NO ONE sees spatial chat now. Literally no one.

It's either whisper one person at a time, or don't communicate at all.

 

Using 'emote' is the only thing that even resembles a workaround.

 

I don't RP and I see the obvious need for chat bubbles.

 

If I want to say something to someone directly around me, a chat bubble says "Hey, that guy killing the next mob over is talking to me." Without chat bubbles, they have to be watching their chat window, notice that it says "Say" instead of "General" for the channel name despite them having the same default color, and then realize who it was nearby who was talking.

 

That's not just good for RP, it's good for forming ad hoc groups with the people around you.

[asbalana]

Although I hope that I am wrong, here is my feelings.

 

I believe that the game will slowly bleed players (both subs and f2p) until the launch of 2.0 and RoHC. I think that the numbers will jump up at that time as players return to see and experience the new content. Then after a month or so, the numbers will start to drop slowly again. A few months at best after that there will be a large bail out. Numbers will settle to a low level where those left are the die hard fans and a few f2p perple who cycle quickly in and out. At that time, the game will go into maintence mode until somewhere along the line EA decides that it is not generating any or enough profit and pull the plug.

[Stryklone]

Headed to be a placeholder game.

 

Note that the studio to make this game was in existence for 3 years before forums/feedback were set up. That indicates no one's opinion was wanted until what the devs had already chosen was too late to change.

 

The big secret design direction from the beginning? Copy another game. That was such an overwhelming direction that changing SWTOR from its WoW inertia to its own game is like trying to change course on a supertanker. Many "new" parts of this game are simply repurposing content which already exists.

 

Without the type of PvP that players like the game will end up losing a big revenue stream. When will their patience run out? Same can be said for those waitng for a new space experience. For those here for voiceovers and story, future offerings seem to be less voiceovers and story.

 

There's a lot to overcome for SWTOR to end up as "the" game people want to play for years and years. For now it's fine and enjoyable for me -- I haven't run out of class stories. Yet.

 

Just one person's opinion.

Edited February 26, 2013 by Stryklone

[Fantazm]

I'd like to see more Star Wars things. Stop making up planets and use ones that already exist for example. It'd be interesting to go to Dantooine, to see if the temple is still there, and what's happened since. It'd be fun to go to Kashyyyk and see the Wookies. The sinkholes of Utapau could make a fun place to be, slowly decending down as you explore. We could go see the shipyards in orbit above Kuat, the Gungans and early human groups on Naboo (NPC conversations could get -very- annoying here though!) I could go on, but you get the idea. Instead we get a "Makeb". I'm sure it's exciting for the designers to be able to create something new and add it to the lore, but I want things I've actually heard of.

 

I'd like reasons to go back to planets. Mindlessly grinding heroics for Reputation points does not count, but making each planet have a level 50 dailies area might be ok, would help doing dailies feel less of a grind if you had more options.

 

Free-flying space could be fun.

 

The ceasing of ridiculous headgear would be a bonus as well.

 

 

I don't expect any of these things to happen given what's happened so far. I'm enjoying the storylines, have done 6 and am on chapter 3 of a 7th but after that it kinda dies for me. (feel free to insert "mmos are not for you" comment here)

[anstalt]

Without access to actual subscriber numbers I can't make proper predictions, but I see three distinct possible routes:

 

 

1) Re-engineer the game to focus on the core MMORPG market. [High Risk / Reward]

 

This is the least plausible route for TOR to take but has the biggest potential reward. If EAWare decide to properly invest in TOR then they could take the game as it is and seriously expand it's systems to meet the growing demands of the core MMORPG crowd. Proper pvp, expanded raiding, better crafting, proper space, proper roleplaying, player housing etc...all these things are needed to bring back the core crowd who were disappointed with vanilla TOR.

 

The core crowd are important as they are generally dedicated to their game and will put in tons of time to create the community they enjoy. These people run guilds, lead raids, form pug groups, organise server events and are the most important people of any online community. Without these people, long term profitability is based on high player churn rather than player retention.

 

However, I seriously doubt that EAWare have the finances or the talent to pull this off so I give this a 2% chance of happening

 

 

2) Bumble along as they are now

 

The game seems to have stabalised at the moment. Assuming that stability continues through the expansion then EAWare can defer making important decisions until some future date and just continue doing what they are doing: developing more of the same.

 

Assuming the current stability is also profitable then EAWare could viably carry on for a year or two and just increase the amount of content there is in game. Presumably most of the people who are still here are enjoying it so as long as they have content to play, they'll continue playing. Downside to this strategy is lack of growth: without innovation they wont draw back old subscribers or the core crowd, nor will they attract a new crowd who previously dismissed the game.

 

I give this route a 70% probability because it completely lacks vision, direction and talent, all the hallmarks of EAWare.

 

 

3) Focus on the F2P Crowd

 

F2P, when done well, can be an amazing money spinner AND an amazing consumer experience. TOR's current F2P implementation is a shambles as it is far too restrictive and without enough "meaty" stuff to unlock. To get long term viability in to the store, they need more permanent unlocks available for the more discerning spender.

 

For example, permanent removal of warzone cap for $50. If they could get the cartel market to a point where someone could essentially purchase all unlocks and have the same access as a subscriber then they will be in a good place. Such things encourage money spending and generate feelings of attachment to the game. It'd almost be like purchasing a lifetime subscription for a one-off price. Future money then comes from new content which the F2P people have to buy, whilst subs get free.

 

If EAWare focuses on the F2P crowd then expect lots of bit-sized bits of content that can be easily packaged and sold. Expect lots of casual content as the F2P crowd is, by and large, much more casual than the subscriber crowd. Expect nothing of substance for "core" gamers.

 

I give this route the remaining 28% probability of happening as although this is probably the most profitable route for EAWare, I expect initial spending on the cartel market will be significantly less than initial forecasts. They'll attribute this to their playerbase and the market when they should in fact attribute this to the lack or worthwhile things on the cartel market

[Eillack]

^^ This

 

Also: Some form of player housing is what I expect in the long run. Be it ship customization or maybe something like 'appartment complexes'.

 

[snip]

 

These were in SW:TOR but pulled before launch; the ship customization was pulled literally the day before early access began.

 

=============================

 

But to be honest, I do not expect space combat to ever resemble 21st century gaming - SW:TOR will be stuck in the 90's arcade theme. But yeah, nwe ops, etc will easily be in this game in the future.

 

I truely hope someone makes a space based MMO for Star Wars with a bit of planetary control/warzones in the future.

[uziforyou]

We will never see class stories again. It will be Empire or Republic stories only. The family tree will never be expanded upon. They are adding Legacy achievements and they look promising.

 

I really hope the new Ops and HM FPs are actually hard. They really need to ramp the difficulty up on this game. The space project better be full open 3D space, anything else ****. I would like more sandbox elements in the game, pref it brings back to worlds that are unused at 50.

 

I really want to see the new gear designs after they heard us "loud and clear". Im still not impresed with the new Makeb gear.

 

I dont see any of this happening. I just see what is happening now over and over till the game is shut down.

 

Game difficulty is a tough nut to crack. While some feel the game is too easy there are at least equal numbers that feel it's just right and even those who feel it's too hard already. No matter what EA/Bioware does with game difficulty there will be unhappy people. Hmm, kind of like anything PvP related........................

[RuQu]

For now it's fine and enjoyable for me -- I haven't run out of class stories. Yet.

/QUOTE]

 

I think this is where a lot of people are.

 

EA/BW bought themselves a lot of time with the 8 class stories, now it's up to them to decide if they will use that time to make the game worth playing after a large percentage have finished all of the stories they are interested in or not.

[Kalfear]

For now it's fine and enjoyable for me -- I haven't run out of class stories. Yet.

/QUOTE]

 

I think this is where a lot of people are.

 

EA/BW bought themselves a lot of time with the 8 class stories, now it's up to them to decide if they will use that time to make the game worth playing after a large percentage have finished all of the stories they are interested in or not.

 

not alot of time

my account runs out on 13th as im done

and I could have said that honestly after 6 months but gave them the extra 7-8 months to show me they GOT IT and were heading in a new pro player direction.

 

Instead all Ive seen is rehashed old content offered as new and a complete dedication of most of the resources on the Cartel Shop

 

I gotta say, the Cartel shop was probably the nail in my coffin for this game as anything worth getting now is brought through the cartel shop

 

Crafters get no new recipes

Players get no new objectives to obtain via questing and such

just buy for real money or buy for credits on GTN ( how exciting and rewarding )

 

TOR not going to die but its going to lose the last of it sub base and the cartel market is only short term profits so thats going to fall off as well.

 

The direction this game going the same direction SWG did, die out till its got like 30k players and is a after thought but those vocal 30k that think they are 2 million (as we see all the time posted on these forums)

 

Its not a bright future honestly

not death and closure (im sure Lucas Arts has a clause that forces them to keep it open like had for SWG) but dont see this game being supported by EA (even to limited extent it is now) in long run.

 

Just far to many mistakes made from day one and the sub base has never really had a feeling that their complaints and issues were being listened to, much less addressed.

[sandisrd]

Hi,

 

I love TOR and this game made me play MMO, because before I always thought theses type of games are childish and I try few of them in past, moreover I'm love story in TOR and so many great features I will always support this incredible game and it's heading in right direction with no doubt, I am so looking forward what is in stock for us in future.

 

Thank you,

Best regards!.

[Muwarr]

Unfortunately it appears that the expansion of the class stories is not a part of SWTORs future. That was an element that I think a lot of people found interest in an encouragement to play. Lots of people have leveled multiple toons to 50 to experience the different story lines. There won't be as much reason to level up more than one Rep and Imp character through Makeb.

 

The only element I see out there that might be a significant alteration in the game's path is the SSSP. That is if the SSSP is still active and consists of more than a useless, largely unrelated side game as the current space battles are.