There is STILL incredible potential for SwTOR in the MMO market

[Andryah]

Let me guess. You know how to move this game forward?

 

Perhaps... he is the one that pulled the wheels off to begin with back in 2012.

[Brewski]

this.

 

game is going under at a fast rate and all i ever hear is we want swg pre-cu 2.0 nothing can save tortanic now.

 

Ah, there we are. I knew it wouldn't be long.

 

If the game was going under quickly every time someone said this it would have been gone ages ago. If they were in milking mode we wouldn't have GSF or Housing coming, let alone the level boost and expansion later this year.

 

SWTOR will never have 2 million subs again, and it will never replace WoW. It is, however, a success under the new model, and seems like it's going to continue to be successful for quite a while yet. Will it die? Someday yes, as all MMOs will. However it still has a lot of life left in it, and I (and many hundreds of thousands of other players) will still be enjoying it next year when someone else posts the exact same thing you did. (Just like someone else posted it a year ago.)

[Eldrenath]

I simply do not understand the venom MMO players have for games they don't like (SWTOR in particular). It's very odd: if they decide they hate a game they feel it is imperative to let everyone know and to try to convince everyone to think the same way.

 

Here's a hint: no one has ever changed anyone else's mind via forum posts about a video game. No "defender" of a game has ever (or will ever) convince a hater that a game is good, and no hater has ever (or will ever) convince someone that likes a game that it is bad. It is absolutely hilarious to see them try, though.

 

Sure, some folks really like SWTOR. Some really hate it. Because SWTOR is a video game, and like all video games it is a hobby. And like all hobbies some folks will love it and some will hate it. There are some sports fans that love hockey and some that hate it. Some folks love to play golf, others prefer tennis. Yet you never see tennis players on golf forums spending hours trying to convince golfers that golf is boring. Yet this type of insanity goes on all the time in MMO forums.

 

I hope it never stops, though. It is endlessly entertaining watching video gamers endlessly reinforce all the negative stereotypes about them.

[TravelersWay]

Ah, there we are. I knew it wouldn't be long.

 

If the game was going under quickly every time someone said this it would have been gone ages ago. If they were in milking mode we wouldn't have GSF or Housing coming, let alone the level boost and expansion later this year.

 

SWTOR will never have 2 million subs again, and it will never replace WoW. It is, however, a success under the new model, and seems like it's going to continue to be successful for quite a while yet. Will it die? Someday yes, as all MMOs will. However it still has a lot of life left in it, and I (and many hundreds of thousands of other players) will still be enjoying it next year when someone else posts the exact same thing you did. (Just like someone else posted it a year ago.)

 

Actually it won't even be someone else. As their history shows, this group is more than capable of paying a sub to troll the forums. So they'll be here next year posting the exact same thing; then the year after that; then the year after that; and so on and so forth for the next 8 years until EA announces that they will be sunsetting the game to make way for another MMO.

 

On that day, all these people will come to the forums and rejoice - shouting out for all to hear that they were right and the game is dead and the severs getting shut off. They will rub the fact that the game is shutting down in all of our faces while announcing to the world their ingenuity and prowess at predicting the failure of this craptastic game called SWTOR.

 

Well done, guys, well done. Yes, you were right. The game has died.

[Macetheace]

Sad to say it probably wont happen, unfortunately that boat has gone I think.

no it hasn't, or at least you don't know that, stop saying *** becuase the more you say it hte more you believe it, and may convince others, and if they believe it they won't try , and if they don't try they would waste this outstanding project thinking it failed which is a FALSE PERCEPTION

 

these guys need to start believing agian, and see what we see, they need to understand exactly what caused the crisis of 2012, - and need to understand what's holding back the floodgates.

They would have to attract back a lot of players and get them subscribing. Something in the region of what happened last time, and I don't see it happening, as an example WoW doesn't attract that kind of resub from its huge base.

that is exactly why the need a big re-launch expansion, making swtor 2 is both un-necessary and unfeasible, but a big 2-year developement expansion, timed for 2015 Star wars movie release would do the job handsomely

 

it is such an even tthat would attract a lot of players. and WoW can't do that anymore because they've stretched that game beyond its limit, it's 10 years old, this one is 2 years old. many more have come and gone through wow also, this game would be a revelation to most, it's got the A-factor, and the X-factor to amaze. this isn't wow, don't mistake that if wow can't do that they can't. The problem is these guys throw in the towel, and the negativity on these forums does not help at all.

Not exactly the kind of players that make for a good MMO though, IMO. Any player that is going to actively work a gaming forum in a negative light for a game they clearly do not play, and have not played since shortly after launch =/= players to be craved and desired by the game company or other players. Further, riding around on 2 year old rhetoric about a game you do not play is complete nonsense.

but something doesn't need to make sense to be believed, it never has done and it never will do, making sense helps, but most gamers read reports and make up their minds.

 

man if i didn't know and play this game I may have been convinced by the trash if not necessarily have believed.. this is the reality the publicity of htis product faces, it's what's out there.. and i think game developers are kidding themselves if they think they cna't best wow. This game can, they threw in the towel way too soon, and didn't understand what they were fighting.. now they have a chance for a fresh percpective, and know how to manage their publicity better. They should go for it again.

[ScarletBlaze]

I have been here since prior to launch and so has most of my guild members and we still play and enjoy the game.

 

Is it perfect? No but then nothing in life is perfect. You learn to adjust to things. if you really dislike playing something then move on but what you don't try to do is get everyone to agree with you and then stomp your feet when people don't. People need to learn to accept the fact that just because someone doesn't like something, this game or something else, doesn't mean others will agree with them and just as you expect people to respect your opinion you have to do the same thing without being conscending to the person.

 

Yes there are probably improvements that could be made and there is a chance they will be made.

 

As far as SWG being perfect kind of funny what I read on the forums regarding the game now is entirely different than what I read on the SWG forums when I was playing the game. Sometimes I wonder if they are just making SWG out to be this great game now that it has closed because if you had read the forums and listen to the players in the game it was not that great.

 

I enjoy some aspects of it but it was not perfect.

[Ansultares]

I'm a returning player; played four months or so at release, and spent the past two years playing other MMOs, including more than a few cash shop games.

 

SWTOR hasn't really changed in that time. It's greatest advantage at this point is that newer releases aren't any better. Many have tried (and failed) to incorporate cutscenes, generally using better methodology but relying on substandard cutscenes; that is to say, they don't plaster cutscenes everywhere, unlike SWTOR, but the ones they do use aren't as strong a quality as SWTORs. Granted no one else is using those stupid and awful phase portals that really undermine exploration in this game.

 

Or perhaps its true greatest advantage is that newer MMO releases neglect PvP. GW2 may have launched with a WvWvW system, but it was shallow and would have been well supplemented by a battleground system; like so many other newer MMOs, GW2 thought a (crappy) arena system would be sufficient for boxed PvP, but it isn't. This was always one of WAR's strengths, and I can only assume that when BWA cannibalized Mythic for talent they brought in Mythic's PvP team. Speaking of WAR, there were like 50+ boxed PvP maps, with more than a few excellent maps or map types. COULD YOU PLEASE IMPORT WAR PVP MAPS INTO SWTOR?????

 

And maybe this last one's peculiar to me, but the game is pretty damn well efficient. I don't have some beast PC that can run at max settings+; I was actually running this using an onboard graphics adapter, until Blizzard forced me to add a proper video card for Diablo 3. It reminds me that one complaint I didn't hear much of at release, and one strength few players really gave this game credit for, is that it was already an efficiently written game. A few modifications here and there, and it very well could have mounted a long-term subscription battle with WoW.

Edited March 25, 2014 by Ansultares

[Malake]

There is absolutely the potential to gain a boost from the movie. Massive hype for the Star Wars world gives great potential to gain many new players. I'm not sure exactly what they should do to maximise this though.

 

Something big like adding a new class mirrored for each faction would be great. Even though it would be difficult to integrate with the existing leveling process it needs to something like that to get the magazines and websites excited to report on it.

Edited March 25, 2014 by Malake

[ZionHalcyon]

There is absolutely the potential to gain a boost from the movie. Massive hype for the Star Wars world gives great potential to gain many new players. I'm not sure exactly what they should do to maximise this though.

 

Something big like adding a new class mirrored for each faction would be great. Even though it would be difficult to integrate with the existing leveling process it needs to something like that to get the magazines and websites excited to report on it.

 

Given that classes all have their own stories 1-50, and the devs said no more class stories, that makes adding a new class entirely unlikely.

[Ansultares]

There is absolutely the potential to gain a boost from the movie. Massive hype for the Star Wars world gives great potential to gain many new players. I'm not sure exactly what they should do to maximise this though.

SquareEnix almost totally overhauled Final Fantasy XIV, re-releasing it as FFXIV: A Realm Reborn. For endgame PvE enthusiasts, its actually a great game, with a great PvE mechanic progression system and clear skill floors.

 

Overhauling a game is a steep mountain to climb, but SE has shown that its at least possible.

 

Given that classes all have their own stories 1-50, and the devs said no more class stories, that makes adding a new class entirely unlikely.

Indeed. I don't think BW, or much of the playerbase, really thought through the transitioning of KoTOR into an MMO. "No new classes" is the consequence of some terrible design decisions, and really limits their options moving forward. Edited March 25, 2014 by Ansultares

[Darth-Obvious]

i'm sorry for SwTOR not reeling in the numbers like WoW does, but i'm thoroughly convinced that it can reach that level still with this incredible core game it's already gotten, especially with the story/class story. This is the only game that I have felt is closest to playing a movie, and it's still got incredible appeal. Get a better publicist BW, there are so many cool things for players here, it needs a really cool way or events of making more people know.

 

You need a serious expansion and a re-launch event, one that has nearly the same explosive impact the original announcement of this game had, kinda like what the EQ people were doing that became EQ2, but instead of a brand new game, one big game effort, timed extremely well - target the launch of the new Star Wars movie. - to really get it buzzing

 

People really like this game, a lot of returning players a lot of new players, have much more praise than criticsm - maybe it's becuase i don't read the forum much, but i'm always chatting with people i group up with and sometimes in general chat over my various characters. They love this unique and well polished feel, they love the stories, and those who don't love the action and the raids, Seriously /BW, you're not exploding big out there because there is a very false and bad perception of this game that really isn't true that is stopping the wider group from a major influx , you need to re-launch /refresh. Newcomers like ESO and WS while each having some cool aspects, still don't have some really cool things that this game has and people are beginning to really notice. Those that scoffed SwTOR and left in frustration after they played it like crack for 6 weeks are opening up again, but you need a big promo and excellent publicity coupled with a huge effort.

 

Don't get arrogant like the last time, do a thorough and great job.

 

 

There is no "saving" TOR.

 

The MMO market isn't what you think it is. The MMO market is basically WoW and everything else. You could probably separate EVE Online out of everything else given its structure and economy in the game and real world, but that's about it.

 

Actually stop for a second and look at the MMO market from WoW forward, ie Age of Conan, Lord of The Rings, Guild Wars, Champions Online, Star Trek Online, TERA, TOR, Neverwinter, etc, etc, and realize that they're all basically the same.

 

I say the same in the sense that they all have alot of people playing them at launch but then over time go (or start) F2P and find a stable audience that never really grows or shrinks.

 

Now combine that with the fact all of these MMOs put out about the same level of content at about the same rate too. For instance none of them are putting out full retail boxed expansion packs. They're doing content updates every few months and cash shop options every few weeks.

 

The other part of it is that no matter how much money these post WoW MMOs are making from micro-transactions only a small fraction of that money is going back into development of the game. The majority of it is going back to the publisher (EA, NCSoft, Perfect-World) to do whatever with.

 

The MMO market will continue to be/stay this way for awhile too and we probably won't see any sort of major refresh to the genre ala "the next WoW" until the genre dies down a bit. For instance look at fighting games, they were super popular in the 90s but in the early through mid 2000s there were far less of them and they weren't making as much money. Then Street Fighter 4 comes along and breaths some new life into the genre that hadn't existed in years. Adventure games also followed this pattern too, same goes for a few other game types as well.

 

it is such an even tthat would attract a lot of players. and WoW can't do that anymore because they've stretched that game beyond its limit, it's 10 years old, this one is 2 years old. many more have come and gone through wow also, this game would be a revelation to most, it's got the A-factor, and the X-factor to amaze. this isn't wow, don't mistake that if wow can't do that they can't. The problem is these guys throw in the towel, and the negativity on these forums does not help at all.

 

You don't seem to understand the fact that what you're describing and asking for is only going to satisfy current TOR players, ie the audience they've already got.

 

EA could dump another 100 million into TOR and it would NOT see a drastic increase in subs. That's not how the world or market works. Everybody made up their mind(s) about TOR or X MMO back when it came out and have since moved on.

 

The old model of millions of players playing any one game for years doesn't really exist anymore because everybody is always eager to move onto the next thing and/or try something else. People consume something and move on. That's just how it is now. You can not change that aspect of society no matter how much of a genius you think you might be.

[GalacticKegger]

There is no "saving" TOR.

 

The MMO market isn't what you think it is. The MMO market is basically WoW and everything else. You could probably separate EVE Online out of everything else given its structure and economy in the game and real world, but that's about it.

 

Actually stop for a second and look at the MMO market from WoW forward, ie Age of Conan, Lord of The Rings, Guild Wars, Champions Online, Star Trek Online, TERA, TOR, Neverwinter, etc, etc, and realize that they're all basically the same.

 

I say the same in the sense that they all have alot of people playing them at launch but then over time go (or start) F2P and find a stable audience that never really grows or shrinks.

 

Now combine that with the fact all of these MMOs put out about the same level of content at about the same rate too. For instance none of them are putting out full retail boxed expansion packs. They're doing content updates every few months and cash shop options every few weeks.

 

The other part of it is that no matter how much money these post WoW MMOs are making from micro-transactions only a small fraction of that money is going back into development of the game. The majority of it is going back to the publisher (EA, NCSoft, Perfect-World) to do whatever with.

 

The MMO market will continue to be/stay this way for awhile too and we probably won't see any sort of major refresh to the genre ala "the next WoW" until the genre dies down a bit. For instance look at fighting games, they were super popular in the 90s but in the early through mid 2000s there were far less of them and they weren't making as much money. Then Street Fighter 4 comes along and breaths some new life into the genre that hadn't existed in years. Adventure games also followed this pattern too, same goes for a few other game types as well.

 

 

 

You don't seem to understand the fact that what you're describing and asking for is only going to satisfy current TOR players, ie the audience they've already got.

 

EA could dump another 100 million into TOR and it would NOT see a drastic increase in subs. That's not how the world or market works. Everybody made up their mind(s) about TOR or X MMO back when it came out and have since moved on.

 

The old model of millions of players playing any one game for years doesn't really exist anymore because everybody is always eager to move onto the next thing and/or try something else. People consume something and move on. That's just how it is now. You can not change that aspect of society no matter how much of a genius you think you might be.

WARNING: Wall of text ...

 

While no one game excels at every possible MMO aspect, most excel at something while the really good ones excel at multiple things. WoW's numbers became WoW's numbers because it was the right model in the right place at the right time - not because it was groundbreaking or had everything that other MMOs lacked. There's something to be said for timing.

 

There was no shortage of MMORPGs when WoW launched ... SWG had been out for almost a year and a half, both The Sims Online and Earth & Beyond had been out for 2 years, DAoC had been out for 3 years, Everquest had been out for 4 ½ years (with EQ2 shipping the week before) and Ultima Online had been out for just over 7 years. UO, SWG and TSO were sandboxing world builders, and SWG didn't really become a "Star Wars universe" until the JTL expansion released a month before WoW launched. Earth & Beyond was way ahead of its time and (personally) I was surprised BW didn't incorporate that game's space PvE into TOR. DAoC was an open world MMO heavy into PvP, and Everquest was the king of linear adventuring.

 

So how did WoW become a 600 lb. gorilla? The answer is easy imho - it singlehandedly jumpstarted the MMO modding community. Modders gave WoW something no other MMO franchise had ... a franchise. The modding community became WoW's full time volunteer field applications engineering and marketing presence. Modders spawned the likes of DKPsystem, WoWhead, WoWwiki, Armory, Curse, Elitist Jerks and TankSpot that practically sold the game for them 24x7. I believe THAT is how WoW got so big.

 

Bioware opening their doors to modders would not have a similar effect on TOR because the circumstances aren't the same. Modding isn't new anymore. It will take the discovery of a fresh & burgeoning yet similarly powerful & pervasive community - and incorporating it into an MMO's landscape (not just as addon authors either) - to create the next "one." Realistically I don't see "the next one" on the horizon.

 

Except for one possibility (which according to Blizzard is an improbability): World of StarCraft. If they were to migrate Starcraft II after Legacy of the Void matures into an MMO like they did Warcraft after Heroes, and turned the game's arcade loose to the game's subscribers, it would explode the MMO market the way WoW did. Blizz would essentially be reinventing the gaming community as we know it. The eSports industry (which the original StarCraft practically invented) would provide the Hollywood glitz because that aspect of the game wouldn't have to change in the least. A WoS MMO with the Arcade sandbox in full swing would be a game changer imho. I could also see it being a huge QA nightmare.

 

Wildstar looks fun as hell but it is essentially a GW2 meets Team Fortress 2 MMO that focuses heavily on player housing. It is genuinely cartoony (in a cool and cute way) and overtly promotes itself as a sandbox MMO aimed at SWG faithful. Like GW2, Terra and Galactic Starfighter it uses the mouse for turn L/R & aiming. Which means one cannot freely move about and drink a beverage at the same time. Though it looks like it will have native PC Gamepad support.

 

Destiny is essentially Halo online. The Repopulation looks like a traditional Sci-Fi MMORPG that appears to mimic traditional MMORPGs ... just substitute Nations for Guilds. And Planetside is Tabula Rasa with Crysis-candy skins.

 

Star Trek Online will be kept alive by the Trekkers who are okay with the industry's worst ground combat system because the game's fleet actions, ship & crew advancement system, open (somewhat) space combat and lore are ever present and well oiled.

 

TESO will be relying on its ES fan base, as well as its emphasis on PvP, to carry it I think. It too appears to mimic traditional MMORPGs, but with a multi-level console-style UI menu system and a mouse-steered combat/movement system similar to Guild Wars & Galactic Starfighter. It too will have native PC gamepad support because there will be PS4 and Xbox One versions releasing this summer.

 

Lastly is Star Citizen, a hardcore "space simulator" MMO from the same guy that did Wing Commander and Freelancer. Think Wing Commander space combat, Freelancer story and Eve Online's wide open (and cutthroat) economy system. It too uses the mouse for turn L/R & aiming, though space flight & combat are designed around joysticks & yolks. The game is also being developed in concert with the Oculus Rift haptic system. Oh ... it ain't a cheap date either.

 

None of these are in SWTOR's space, which is good for Star Wars. But as you accurately pointed out, the overall player pool is dilluting from the sheer quantity of games coming out. Bioware is lucky the game released when it did, affording it time to get a foothold in the industry before all hell broke loose. Then again, maybe the game was intentionally released 6 months early because Bioware saw that window closing and had no choice but to pull the trigger when they did.

Edited March 26, 2014 by GalacticKegger

[Malake]

Given that classes all have their own stories 1-50, and the devs said no more class stories, that makes adding a new class entirely unlikely.

 

Yep, you're right, it is unlikely and would be a lot of work. But given the opportunity to ride the hype created by the movie they want to do something big. Something unexpected.

 

And it is a little bit different from adding more class specific content. There would only be two sets of content to create rather than eight (although it would make creating new class content in the future even more difficult), and it would last the player longer than any new content because it blends in with all the existing content.

 

The reason they said no to more class content was the cost/benefit of it. It would certainly be costly but how much benefit there is is harder to say. They would have some idea by knowing how many classes the average person ever tried. It would likely help to sell more character slots.

 

Personally it is what I want most, but if the class was something I was not really interested in it would be much less appealing (although I would still try it). I would like to see a droid class with free will although I could understand others not liking that. The story could be about "waking up" and discovering your purpose and maker. The character could be gender neutral so they could save on voice actors, possibly even use the same one for republic and empire. Share the same starting planet/area/space station with more areas that open up later.

[Sarfux]

I believe, in time, it will be bigger at some point. Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day.

[Ansultares]

The old model of millions of players playing any one game for years doesn't really exist anymore because everybody is always eager to move onto the next thing and/or try something else.

If anything, the old model of ~100-300k subs is still dominant within the industry. All that changed are the number of players who will try a new MMO, leading developers to sooner chase box sales than subscription revenue.

 

So how did WoW become a 600 lb. gorilla? The answer is easy imho - it singlehandedly jumpstarted the MMO modding community.

I think you're underestimating the role video streaming offered, ie youtube.

[Greyhamea]

Late comment, but I just wanted to say that nothing in the OP would bring me back to this game as a subscriber. Something did, but none of the things there.

[Darth-Obvious]

If anything, the old model of ~100-300k subs is still dominant within the industry. All that changed are the number of players who will try a new MMO, leading developers to sooner chase box sales than subscription revenue.

 

I think you're underestimating the role video streaming offered, ie youtube.

 

I said millions, not a couple 100k.

[chillshock]

Actually - if they want to get their 'niche' going - they'd have to go the route "If you are a Star Wars fan, and you have never played swtor - you are no star wars fan".

 

So: Redoing the already done: Meh. Ok, always demanded, but just the same thing over again.

 

Doing "Star Wars" in it's very core. Going the class-story way has potential. Not the "everyone in the world or warcraft will like it" but the "every star wars fan likes it". There are a lot of those.

[Niklarus]

There is absolutely the potential to gain a boost from the movie. Massive hype for the Star Wars world gives great potential to gain many new players. I'm not sure exactly what they should do to maximise this though.

 

In my personal opinion, the thing they should do to take advantage of the hype for the next Star Wars trilogy is advertise, advertise, ADVERTISE!! Advertise the game on radio. Advertise the game on movie screens. Advertise the game on TV. The general public cannot play a game if they do not know it exists and most of the people I know out in real life don't know what MMOs even are, let alone SWTOR.

 

Advertising, man. Advertising is the key.

[Styxx]

The old model of millions of players playing any one game for years doesn't really exist anymore because everybody is always eager to move onto the next thing and/or try something else. People consume something and move on. That's just how it is now. You can not change that aspect of society no matter how much of a genius you think you might be.

 

Not entirely true. I had way more options than I have now when I was playing Freelancer and I still played it for about 3 or 4 years. Left only when the actual server and in general the unmodded servers became scarce and only modded ones became prevalent, otherwise I would have stayed longer.

 

The key was that "X-Factor", or that something that kept dragging me back from the core of the game. As long as a game can find that "something", it will keep players for years.

 

And, as much as nobody is willing to admit, microtransactions and fluff ain`t it.

[Macetheace]

gosh.. i am just hearing excuses and predictions of how no one can ever be like wow which suits wow very well.

 

i am also hearing people giving htemselves excuses to give up, maybe convince their investors there isn't much they can do.. which is all b/s -- no matter how detailed your analysis is or how much maths you do, you can't tell the future, you have no idea what making a serious effort will do.

 

you're just discouraged by the failures about you and you have begun to believe it applies to you which in turn ensures this under-achievement. TAke courage, be bold, be brave, committ your efforts, and it will turn. WoW is leading this market by strong lead because htey do the work, put in the hours and don't quit, they aren't the bravest company, they certainly don't ahve the best product.. but all the upstarts give up so soon.

 

If your title doens't bring in the sales you thought you have to really work hard at it for at least a year or two. The most crucial time of an MMO, is the first few periods after launch...but I am noticing game makers, get money and throw the kitchen sink at projects which they then shoot in the foot because they panic and release their product either too early or don't stick with it.

 

Bioware fired and probably argued with half of their staff in the crucial 6 months of the game where they shoudl have been churning out content faster than hot New York second, and planning big. But that's the past, the efforts since then have kept the game a live, but it can do so much better if you'd stop making silly excuses and hiding behind clever words and do breathtaking stuff.

 

 

ANd you the community, rather than really support your fave game, and get behind them encouraging them, you answer topics like this trying to sound clever and knowledgeable, but all you're doing is sowing doubt and unbelief, I see people do this in all walks of life, and it is killing htem literally, faith is what you need to truly live, you guys are too clever to believe in anything, even GOd, yet that is exactly what you need to do.

 

The only strata of life I notice this attitude is missing is at the very top, people there don't think like this or do that, those at the top and those rapidly rising to the top, get behind your developers and encourage them rather than talk sensible nonsense and defeat into them.

 

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live - Deuteronomy 30:19 God to the Nation of Israel.

Believing to survive is not living, believe to live, truly live - Macetheace Edited March 26, 2014 by Macetheace

[GalacticKegger]

Late comment, but I just wanted to say that nothing in the OP would bring me back to this game as a subscriber. Something did, but none of the things there.

What did bring you back? Edited March 26, 2014 by GalacticKegger

[Eldrenath]

Late comment, but I just wanted to say that nothing in the OP would bring me back to this game as a subscriber. Something did, but none of the things there.

 

This post sums up an important facet of the conversation: namely, that everyone that says "doing X will make tons of players come in" is simply stating their opinion. Because what player X wants might take away from developing something else that player Y wants. So a developer allocates their limited resources to develop that stuff that they think will yield the most return.

 

For example, tons of PvP players are angry that the devs have basically said "No, we're not doing that at this time" to MANY of their requests. And they're very disappointed, and swear that if PvP were improved there would be a huge influx of players. And that might be true--but spending time developing PvP might also lead to an outflow of players because time is then NOT being spent on the stuff they like. For example, players like me and my guild. We do lots of PvE and do ops 2-3 nights a week. We have a decent number of very active players, and I don't think a single one of our members have engaged in any PvP in the last month. Certainly we have not done ANY PvP as a guild as long as I've been in the guild.

 

Does that mean that no one likes PvP? Of course not! But it does mean that we don't, and if devs put time into developing PvP at the expense of PvE or some other features then a lot of our members might move on. Certainly I might be inclined to do so, but I hate PvP. It doesn't mean PvP is bad, it means it doesn't appeal to me so if limited time is spent developing tons of PvP at the expense of other content (which it certainly will--SWTOR certainly does not have unlimited developer resources) then I am less inclined to keep playing.

 

In sum, the world don't move

to the beat of just one drum

what might be right for you

might not be right for some.

 

 

Edited March 26, 2014 by Eldrenath

[Suromir]

Never going to happen. BioWare had their chance and they blew it. Too many bad design decisions. Cut corners. And rushing it out.

 

EA is NOT going to invest a crap-ton of money into the game again...

 

If they did it MIGHT succeed in bringing new subs but NOT in the numbers EA would want. It's a fools errand. MMO's just don't work that way. First impressions are KING. The VAST majority of those that left are NOT going to give it another chance. They never do.

 

It's just not going to happen. BioWare had a chance while making it the first time but kept blinders on and cut too many corners.

 

Hell they advertise the class stories as the selling point to this game..and they aren't even going to frigging expand on them (at least not anytime in the VERY VERY foreseeable future.)

 

And they continue to make bad decisions. The fact they still refuse to put in a cross-server LFG queue for PvE and PvP shows this. Is there even a game out anymore, other than SWTOR, that doesn't have cross-server queue's? (that is on multiple servers and not one mega one)

 

Much as I'd LOVE to be proven wrong and eat my own words....it's not going to happen. Ever.

[Mallorik]

There has been a lot that has been good about this game, but the mismanagement of this game at the highest level has been epic in proportion.

 

This game has more potential than any game on the market, and still has more potential than all newcomers I've seen since its launch and still the devs at the highest level have no clue how to move this game forward. It's really sad.

 

This 100%

 

Its the reason the game failed in the first place, bad decisions. And it hasn't changed, they still make horrible decisions that could have been easily avoided with a little research.

 

Oh and the amount of delusion coming from the bioware cheerleaders in this thread is truly amazing, I saw someone actually say they don't want a certain type of person playing swtor and that losing subs didn't matter because the f2p is doing fine, lol.