Bioware, What Are You Guys Doing to Prepare For.... (wait for it)

[_feenix_]

Elder Scrolls Online? (You thought I was going to say Widstar, didn't you... )

 

With the upcoming release of ESO, are you concerned that the population of SWTOR will drop significantly? Well, maybe not but I've already noticed a drop in the population according to the server lists. But I'm nobody important. I'm just your average joe gamer who really enjoys mmo's and Star Wars. And I'm not just talking about doing something right before the big release of ESO such as an event release like Bounty Hunter Week (love it) or Gree (meh). That's a temporary "pacifier". If anything you need to throw more events into the mix and make them happen more often to give us something to do besides grind. I'm talking broader! A huge expansion pack other than StarFighter. Although really cool with what you did with Star Fighter, why so much emphasis on PvP? (oh and speaking of Star Fighter, developers should take a look at the feel of controls in Star Conflict. If Star Fighter had this kind of smoothness in controls and whatnot, it would be so much more fun.) People need more exploration and bigger dailies and FP's. God knows I'm getting tired of my q-popping Czerka all the time. What about us PvE'rs that enjoy progression in raids and whatnot? How about a new class and a new race for both sides. Something really fun. Here's some ideas that maybe you can start implementing. And yes, I know this will take time and won't be immediate. Just please take some time to read through this Bioware. It would be nice to get a "thank you for your time and effort in this post. We will certainly consider some options" or something to let us know you're still listening to us!

 

First of all, bugs. Bugs everywhere. Currently unfixed bugs, Bugged here, Bugged there... fix it! Fix the bugs before releasing the new expansion. An expansion that includes the following implementations:

 

-New planets, new explore-able areas, etc.

-New races and classes (Please, no silly **** like pandas and werewolf classes) Something like add a new epic class and if you have a current 55 lvl character and are a subscriber, you can roll an instant lvl 35 on the new class(es).

- With this, level cap increase. That means new story quests and whatnot. I hate Makeb and so do a lot of other people. That didn't count.

-New Flashpoints with mechanics that are more fun (kind of like mini ops)

-New Ops (granted StarFighter is covering some of this but I'm talking about big time "progression get everyone in the guild to this level stat)

-Guild Area (yes, much like the guild Area that you can port to in Guild Wars). This would be like your faction's guild Armada Ship where you go to do dailies to repair your ship, upgrade it, etc. Got bored on the fleet? Port here and hang out and relax while being able to see general chat in Fleet if you want. Decorate it as you please and even go into events where you fight other faction's guild ships in a warzone to earn rewards for you and your guild. Keeps your guild active and together. Keep them happy.

-Flying mounts. Would it be that difficult to introduce into the code of the game? That's ridiculous my Veractyl can't climb us the medium sized rock.

-Dual Spec. Calm down, calm down. Only usable out of combat. Swapping between true dps and true healing or tanking or a different kind of dps or... PVP spec! An inclusion to this would be in the character page, a few buttons where you can save the current gear selection as whatever you want to call it (i.e. raid gear) and then put on your pvp set and save it as "PVP gear". That way, out of combat, you can swap gear on the fly with one button along with your spec so you can go into pvp or whatever.

 

Please guys, these are legitimate ideas that I have just to help. I'm not saying this game sucks or I hate it and I'm not going to abandon ship to something else. I'm honestly just trying to help and give my input. These are just a few ideas that we can keep this community alive and not taper off into space while ESO runs off with its awesome looking war battles and weird class specs and whatnot. Gotta do something to keep up with the progressing MMORPG's right? I only say this because I love this game and want it to stay actually ACTIVE and not be sitting around for an hour to qeue for an op or flashpoint that I may never get into cause nobody is doing anything but running circles on the fleet talking crap to each other.

[MaverickXIV]

I'm pretty sure BioWare could start intentionally creating bugs just for the fun of it for the next half year and still not be as buggy as a newly launched Elder Scrolls game.

 

So they're inherently safe on that front.

[_feenix_]

That's to be expected though. New game, especially in beta, will have it's share of bugs.

[Einobi]

Too early to tell. Elder Scroll Online may launch and flop like what SWTOR did when it launched. Too much hype in the beginning don't necessarily translate to success.

 

Have to monitor ESO closely to see whether it is a threat. If it can handle what other mmo fails in its initial launch, not only swtor will suffer, other mmo like wow will also suffer. Wow have a larger sub base and a deeper pocket and it can buffer the onslaught of stiff competition longer than Swtor.

 

This is where the risk to Swtor lies. Swtor is in a more vulnerable position financially and on a absolute sub number consideration. In terms of fats to cut further to save cost, Swtor don't have much room to move. Its servers number already is down to the bare minimum in US. It can consolidate some in Euro zone but not much more.

 

I hope Swtor response to the competition is not pushing out more vanity CM items. Anyway, my personal bias opinion is that they are not going to sell much GSF items on CM judging by the nature of GSF game play. I am not going to elaborate further but let the truth speaks for itself down the road. GSF initiative is simply not enough to counter the competition.

Edited January 11, 2014 by Einobi

[gurneyslabb]

I dont know honestly Elder scrolls already has so many people disliking it from beta testing and breaking the nda to voice it. Unless they really put the effort in its going to be another Guild wars 2 will have a small playerbase but the majority will play for a month get bored and move back to more loved games

[SimplyKupo]

I have to agree it is way too early to tell how ESO is gonna do. As much as people hate on WoW clones, many are comfortable with that style and with that being the expected "MMO." So I know many already will not like ESO for that reason. "I can't level to 10 in an hour?! I can't just run around smashing mobs for significant XP? I have to actually explore a little off the beaten path to find quests?!?! I CAN'T HAVE MORE THAN X AMOUNT OF SKILLS ACTIVE?!?!?!WAH WAH WAAAAH!!!" -_-

 

On the flip side, the hardcore Elder Scrolls fans will probably complain that it is too MMO-y and not Elder Scrolls-y enough. "I didn't randomly get 1-shotted by a mob of the appropriate level?! I HAVE TO PICK A CLASS?!?! I can't kill and rob NPC's or steal horses?! WAH WAH WAAAAAH!!!" ...sorry I'm not more familiar with their stereotypical complaints as I've been heavily using the ignore option in game. XD

 

I imagine population will temporarily dip as it always does but I'm not sure we'll permanently lose a significant amount of players to it.

 

Hopefully ESO does well because I really like it so far. However, I personally won't unsub for it so much as just swap subs between the two or do the dreaded dual-sub thing. D: And honestly, I'd be happy if Bioware could just fix **** like leap bugs in Huttball (which seem to only happen on certain leapers of mine while the others are somehow spared that issue) as well as that freakin interface bug where my health bar over my head doesn't update and the giant arrow doesn't show up over targeted players' heads... (ctrl + u just refreshes the health bar to full but doesn't fix anything.) And I have even experienced random bugs a few times, like I can't heal anyone but myself despite having focus target disabled and clearly targeting some one else on my team. o_O That's a real fun way to lose an arena btw. =p

[AlrikFassbauer]

People will play ESO because of Skyrim, not because of Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, but perhaps because of Oblivion.

If things aren't looking like Skyrim, people might therefore be disappointed and leave.

That's how I see the future of ESO.

[Hakkology]

With respect, TESO was a terrible game with a clunky engine and stupified questing (arrow fest full of hints). Not to mention overly simplified melee combat (tapping left and right doesn't give you different combos) along with even more retarded racial skill system (restrictive, telling races what skills to play with) with only 6 skills to click at a time. Graphics looked like minecraft with medium textures. With all that, i heard its going to be a P2P (sub based) game with 21$s a month.

 

It had good story and strong lore behind it. Crafting felt nice with styles and whatnot. But these two aren't enough. I find myself bored to death after playing it for a day, beta still continues but i just don'T feel like playing at the moment. While i know most of these are subject to change and i was playing a beta, thank you, i have seen enough of that game. It's good though, increase the hype, let people go insane for it. That's gotta be fun to watch.

 

Also this game is extremely different compared to TESO, this game should be more afraid of WoW's new expansion. There is Gul'dan, there is Grom Hellscream holy cow ! Not to mention the epic itemization with lots of tertiary stats to choose for your items. What is the endgame itemization in this game for melee dps classes right now ? Full surge ? That's right. *Sarcasm on* It makes the optimization really shine *Sarcasm off* .

 

TESO is a different league, maybe it will pull some LoL players or some GW2 players into it. Or maybe some Wildstar players considering it also has a similar skill slot system. But SWTOR is a different game than that.

Edited January 12, 2014 by Hakkology

[AshlaBoga]

That's to be expected though. New game, especially in beta, will have it's share of bugs.

 

You do know that SWTOR wouldn't be able to make an unplanned big rush of new content before 4/4/2014 right?

If they had the manpower to enact your suggestion OP, then they would have already done so.

 

So GSF, Rakghoul Event, NiM DF/DP is probably all we'll have in April. And that should actually be okay.

Edited January 13, 2014 by AshlaBoga

[Prototypemind]

Honestly, I'm excited to see how the new mechanic introduced with Drive Yards will work out. Random enemy layout each time. All the better if eventually they're able to implement a rotation of abilities that are randomized as well. I don't think any one MMO is a killer for another, I think an MMO that stops improving is its own worst enemy.

[Wainamoinen]

Also this game is extremely different compared to TESO, this game should be more afraid of WoW's new expansion.

There is little in this world that interests me less than WoW's new expansion.

 

What, I'd get to go to a reskinned Outland? And I had so much fun levelling my alts through there the last umpteen times. Be still my beating heart. But not only that, there's epic itemization! Gubbins.

 

I've enjoyed what I've heard of ESO so far. It's trying something different in keeping the mechanics out of the player's face, and that's to be applauded in my opinion. Don't copy WoW, because WoW is tired, gruesomely repetitive and crucially already as WoW as can be. People often make the false argument that a game should have something "because WoW has had it for years", that's a reason to try something different that might be.... better.

 

Elder Scrolls are reliably strong on story too (like a lot of SWTOR), which I like while levelling, while WoW's "story" and lore has sucked panda balls since at least Lich King. I honestly think that these days people play WoW mainly because people play WoW (their own history, friends, size as biggest game), not because WoW is a top game any more.

Edited January 13, 2014 by Wainamoinen

[Hei_Atzfel]

Please please PLEASE don't raise the level cap. The health pools are already ridiculous at level 55 with 30k+ HP being average, I imagine if the level cap was raised to 60 that 50k+ HP would be the average health at that time and that's just silly.

[alike]

Yes, ESO is going to be a good game, but the fact that they chose a system that is making it more like a "co-op" game will make it so different to SWTOR that I think players might play both (I know I will...).

[DEATHICIDE]

It doesn't matter what they do because ESO completely sucked donkey.

 

Don't take my word for it, find anyone who leveled a toon in a later beta.

 

The combat system is described as lame and with no elder scrolls feel.

 

The missions are said to be all laughable jokes.

 

The dungeons are said to be short and not creative in the least.

 

The game itself is said to be repetitive and boring after a couple hours.

 

All the devs of swtor need to do is sit back and watch it implode on itself.

 

Bethesda did not make this MMO, and will be making their own single player Elder Scrolls series addition that will be everything we know and love.

 

ESO will be a complete fail, just think DC universe, in a ripped off ES setting.

Too bad, so sad.

The SWTOR devs are surely not shaking in their boots.

[DarthScruffy]

There isn't much hope in the super short term for new content. Probably 2-4 weeks to 2.6. From there probably 6-8 weeks to NiM Oricon ops. 6 weeks to an announcement from NiM dropping and 4 weeks from the announcement to open beta. So realistically, new ops/anew expansion/both won't be until pretty late in the fall/early winter.

 

I'll grant every word of that is speculation, but that's one of the more aggressive schedules based on time tables where the Bioware machinery actually worked quickly.

[Grimravenuk]

Played in the beta weekend and... not a game i want to bother going back to even in other betas.

 

Your mileage may vary, or you might really like skyrim, but that game is just skyrim with 50 other players running arround.

 

Just felt too bland and boring for an mmo.

 

I think its just going to be the next elder scrolls single game for the ppl who buy it and get to max lvl and put it on the shelf like many other single player games.

[JPryde]

Once TESO looked promising, then it took an arrow to the knee.

[RiVaN_]

I am honestly worried that SWTOR will die quickly after ESO launches.

Here is Why:

1) They are doing a lot of Beta testing and capacity testing lately. It seems to me like they are trying to make sure that when they launch they have it right

2) Each ESO open BETA testing weekend so far the server population on my SWTOR server drops significantly. Many of my guildies abandon SWTOR that weekend for ESO Beta.

3) General Chat on my server the week leading up to an ESO open Beta is usually filled with people talking about ESO.

4) Reading gaming sites etc there is a lot of excitement surrounding ESO.

5) I've done some Beta time on ESO and the graphics are stunning, the game is still REALLY buggy, but is looks amazing and the game play is a bit more fast paced. I personally do not like the UI, camera or controls, but I know many people who are already letting their Subs from SWTOR expire so that they can prep for the move to ESO.

 

I don't want to see this game die already, it has been a ton of fun so far and I hope that they can keep it going!

[Mallaliak]

I am honestly worried that SWTOR will die quickly after ESO launches.

Here is Why:

1) They are doing a lot of Beta testing and capacity testing lately. It seems to me like they are trying to make sure that when they launch they have it right

2) Each ESO open BETA testing weekend so far the server population on my SWTOR server drops significantly. Many of my guildies abandon SWTOR that weekend for ESO Beta.

3) General Chat on my server the week leading up to an ESO open Beta is usually filled with people talking about ESO.

4) Reading gaming sites etc there is a lot of excitement surrounding ESO.

5) I've done some Beta time on ESO and the graphics are stunning, the game is still REALLY buggy, but is looks amazing and the game play is a bit more fast paced. I personally do not like the UI, camera or controls, but I know many people who are already letting their Subs from SWTOR expire so that they can prep for the move to ESO.

 

I don't want to see this game die already, it has been a ton of fun so far and I hope that they can keep it going!

 

All those concerns can be noted down to one single aspect that every mmorpg have had to deal with WHENEVER there's been a new MMORPG coming, successes and failures. And that is hype.

 

The game is overhyped and while a big part of my guild took the weekend to try it aswell, not a single one is even willing to play that game due to the game designs of it and the approach the developers are taking.

 

Now if you're concerned, I can understand you, but this is something we see regulary, and have seen, and will continue to see. Besides Star Wars holds a larger pulling power than Elder Scrolls (Yes, Skyrim hyped it up a great deal for the current kids and teenagers, but most of those demographics arn't the ones that sticks to a game regardless, nor invests the same amount of money into it.)