What Will Keep You Playing?

[scratcha]

Curious about what will keep people in the game.

 

I know there are many of you who adore SWTOR above all else; I don't share that degree of loyalty, not that I don't want to. For me, SWTOR, currently, is just another MMO -- not better nor worse than other available titles. Though I love playing MMOs and have been thus enthralled for nearly 13 years, I've come to a point as to whether I'll even log in on a given day is a toss up. The title question -- What Will Keep You Playing -- is directed at people like me, not the SWTOR lovers or haters.

 

Following are things that would keep me in game or even compel me to play more.

 

I'm mostly a solo player because I want to enjoy the content and I've grown quite weary of the current MMO community insofar as grouped content is concerned. I've played RPGs, but miss the crafting and economic elements. (Those who snark on me over this will likely only justify further my distaste for grouped activities.) This means in a game like SWTOR I'm foregoing much content that requires groups. I could be quite content with a companion powerful enough to allow challenging instances designed for groups. I would expect to pay for this convenience in substantial real currency, slower completion times, and diminished rewards. I should think such a companion, perhaps a 3-legged droid as found on Nar Shadaa would suffice. Can't imagine this would cost BW much in the way of resources.

 

An instanced planet would be nice -- something simple as a cloned Tatooine with no man-made structures, where all the mobs are auto-leveled to my alt. My ship would serve as housing. I could foresee one or two daily quests involving little more than killing X mobs and a boss. A daily treasure hunt, where a box of goodies spawns randomly somewhere on the planet would be another nice touch. Quests would simply arrive by mail, no need for cut scenes, npcs, or other cosmetic mumbo jumbo. This planetary instance would allow me to gather materials, grind mobs, and explore to my heart's content, unbothered by bots, other players, or spammed chat. Again, I can't imagine this would cost BW much to implement.

 

More meaningful crafting (LordArtemis has recommended a terrific solution).

 

As an aside, re-skins of weapons, armor, and mounts don't interest me in the least.

That's it for me -- very basic actually because I have no expectations whatsoever that EA will allow BW to expend resources that would make this game much more than it already is. What would do it for you?

[annabethchase]

Mini-games of skill, such as Sabaac, Dejarik, or Pazak. The racing game idea would work if it was highly complex, but a simple straight ahead race like KOTOR1 would simply be memorized and on farm in a few days. The idea is a complex mini-game that can be played solo while waiting around on que's or guild activities.

[scratcha]

Mini-games of skill, such as Sabaac, Dejarik, or Pazak. The racing game idea would work if it was highly complex, but a simple straight ahead race like KOTOR1 would simply be memorized and on farm in a few days. The idea is a complex mini-game that can be played solo while waiting around on que's or guild activities.

 

Agreed. While I'm not much into mini-games, anything that encourages players to "live" in the game world when not engaged in traditional activities is a step in the right direction.

[OddballEasyEight]

Well... new content will keep me playing.

 

And I'm not as "picky" as some others are. If they release new PvP maps and new ops (neither of which I play), I'll still see that as a good sign that the game is evolving, so I'll keep playing.

[Darth_Wicked]

Story-content whose writing quality matches that of Imperial Makeb and whose scope and vastness has to be - or rather, MUST BE - far superior. Greater exploration into the rich Lore that Bioware delved into at the time it released the Galactic Timeline, concerning Yavin-IV for example.

 

Avoid Steve Blum like the plague since I can't stand his voice anymore.

 

Operations whose story and villains are on par with that which was the Dread Masters, regardless of the fact they were fairly formulaic and predictable... Still, superior voice acting helped quite a lot on that front.

 

( Looking at you, Raptussssssssss )

 

Not asking much here, since I have no illusions concerning class-story content.

Edited June 18, 2014 by Darth_Wicked

[MSchuyler]

There is so much to this game that I simply have not had time to explore that I figure the game will give up on me before I give up on the game. I don't "love" it; it's just that there's so much here. I, too, am a loner, but after two years I don't believe I have scratched he surface. Yeah, there could be lots of improvements, but i just don't see the lack of them driving me from the game any time soon.

 

Part of my problem is that I don't really enjoy the usual "Medieval" themes of many MMOs. Swords and dragons don't really do it for me, so that leaves fewer game choices.

[NickM]

What keeps me playing is my friends. We all love playing this game. As long as we can remained entertained, we will keep playing it.

 

Of course, new story and PvP content helps. Personally, I'm excited for GSH (more than my friends are, that's for sure.)

[Lunafox]

Well...for me it would be extending our individual and companion story arcs with new chapters. That would be awesome!

 

However, I don't think that's coming...at all, or any time soon. For now what's keeping me in is housing. I'm looking forward to that, and I'm hoping it will be done right and well, because I know I could spend hours in my houses in SWG decorating my brains out. I had fun with that. Housing would keep me occupied for a good long while, if done properly. If it's lame, like LOTR (it's a great game but it's housing not so much) then I won't be staying long once I'm done decorating.

 

It's gotten boring and a stale, and if things don't perk up a bit with the housing, I'll be moving on, until such time as my fancy is grabbed by something else, if that happens.

[Reno_Tarshil]

Anything really, I'm a pretty laid back guy when it comes to new stuff.

[NightEngine]

OP, if this is too off-topic I understand, but I'm genuinely curious. If you found people you could tolerate to do group content, would you do it? Surely there are people out there who don't repulse you? The MMO community has been toxic ever since Ultima Online at least, nothing has changed by my reckoning and I've been steeped in it since the beginning, for the most part.

 

The only real difference is that there are more younger players than ever.

 

I've heard of people who will play an MMO for a long time and never read chat or even check the forums. What about it is such a turn-off? It's immature at times and at others downright annoying or distracting (and I really do have standards that are basically too high when it comes to chatting) but I've met some of my best gaming partners in the open chats of various MMOs.

 

There is quality entertainment out there, don't let yourself be jaded and close yourself off from it.

[Slivovidze]

GSF is what keeps and will keep me playing. As long as there are queues popping reasonably often, and as long as there is enough fun in there, I will always log in for couple hours every week to fly.

 

Needless to say, my true SWTOR-playing days are gone. My awesome guild fell apart and so I am all alone here, playing GSF, not even looking for a new guild, because I'm preparing to generally leave the game as soon as I buy myself a PS4. I'm still a sub though, even though I have paid a lot for the game in past, I enjoyed every single moment playing and I still enjoy it a lot, so... Money well spent in my tabs.

 

Sigh, if I only had more time for plaing... And I don't even have kids yet.

[ImmortalLowlife]

Well....I'm primarily a solo player/console gamer. I play swtor simply because I believed BW when they said "this game will be kotor 3-7". I'll be here until the new SW RPG is ready. After that.....who knows. For now I'm enjoying this mmo. It's literally the ONLY I play. I've tried others, but I can't stand the lack of story & fully voiced characters.

[TUXs]

What keeps me playing is my friends. We all love playing this game. As long as we can remained entertained, we will keep playing it.

 

Of course, new story and PvP content helps. Personally, I'm excited for GSH (more than my friends are, that's for sure.)

 

Ditto! Well, except for the GSH thing...you're more excited than I am too.

[Warrgames]

I agree with OP current MMO community sucks. I enjoy running with my guild but most of them don't log in anymore.

 

What would keep me playing

-fun achievements like talked about here http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=743216

-another daily area like Oricon without the million stuns and knockbacks

-HM FP I loath Tact ones

-New OP

[Kourage]

Performance fixes.

[annabethchase]

Performance fixes.

 

Would be the nail in the coffin for me if they had a numbered patch with just performance fixes.

[ZETA_SCORPII]

More events like the casino one, additional daily areas, and new Operations. I've complained about the lack of Ops in this game but the reality is there is plenty to do and keep busy. I don't really care for story content, it's already an adventure everytime I login and group up with others.

[Daekarus]

~More story

~More voice acting

~More stuff like Makeb and Oricon

~More companions

~More neat systems like Macrobinoculars and Scanning

~GSF solo and group PVE content - that whole module is useless because it's PVP

~More group finder

~More flashpoints

~More ways for crafting to be useful and differentiated. I want to be rewarded and special for having my particular profession.

 

Edit: I totally forgot an important one: more events like Gree, Rahkghoul, Bounty Contract Week, etc! Couldn't care less about the casino.

Edited June 18, 2014 by Daekarus

[Darth_Wicked]

~More story

~More voice acting

~More stuff like Makeb and Origin

~More companions

~More neat systems like Macrobinoculars and Scanning

~GSF solo PVE content - that whole module is useless because it's PVP

~More group finder

~More flashpoints

~More ways for crafting to be useful and differentiated. I want to be rewarded and special for having my particular profession.

 

You mean Oricon, right?

[Daekarus]

You mean Oricon, right?

 

Yes! Stupid phone autocorrect.

[LordArtemis]

I wasnt going to answer this, frankly because I just didn't know at this point. GSF was a very strong disappointment for me, and I do not see much of a future for that feature with respect to my interest since they seem to have indicated that joystick control, PVE mode and on foot combat inside capital ships, IE BF2 is unlikely.

 

However, GS holds some promise, ESPECIALLY if it allows free movement decoration like SWG did.

 

So, aside from GS, what would keep me here......short term?

 

1) Keep the CM armor sets and vehicles coming.

2) Increase drop rates of level 9 materials across the board.

3) Tactical versions of current story mode flashpoints.

 

....and long term.

 

1) Pazaak and swoop racing.

2) Add multiplayer capability to current PVE space feature (turret play and ability for other ships to join you in the pipe).

3) Fourth speed tier for speeders, 120 percent minimum.

4) Group summon (ability for group leader to summon group members to his or her location).

5) Revamp of crafting system, very important to me.

6) More full droid appearance sets.

7) Legacy field comm vendor and crew skill training vendor.

8) Ability to change the appearance of our companions without the drop-ins, using the appearance kiosk.

 

That would go a LONG way toward keeping me as a regularly subscribed customer.

Edited June 18, 2014 by LordArtemis

[Uruare]

In my opinion, the chief problem with swtor and other wow - style mmos is that while there are X number of things to do, only a portion of those yield power advancement. I line the direction they're going in with Tactical fp's. That emphasis on recreational content that rewards decent gear is a wonderful way to go, asks I think they should go further still with that.

 

They could re tune ops for solo or duo play, for example, and put the emphasis on extending the life of existing content thusly.

 

Have gear rewards be comparable to the 148 blue stuff, relative to the present upper end being 180ish - nothing amazing, but rock solid did for those that like to keep to themselves and/or want to gear up companions to a solid level. To keep people from farming it to death, let people play a given instance as often as they like, but only be able to get gear from a given instance once a day.

 

Another thing they should do to foster group play would be to implement a mentoring system like RIFT has. RIFT's system let's a player reduce their effective level down and to set it specifically between the level ranges of 10 to max minus 5.

 

It's amazing for being able to go do stuff with one's variously leveled friends, which is a big reason for why I still keep RIFT installed and still play it -they make it super easy to dive right in and not be forced to go label up to max in order to do much of anything reliably with anyone beyond pvp.

 

SWTOR's upcoming housing has got me back for the time being. I'll plunk away at prepping for it and see if it's cool or not.

 

If it's anything like rift housing, I'll be ecstatic. If it's more like FF14 housing. .. I'll be leaving again.

 

So, for them to keep me, they'll have to do a great job on housing. They've already lost me forever where crafting is concerned, and there are loads of things I'd rather do, and thus do, than raid.

 

It's cool that they have the ops and all, but all is even vaguely care about out of them is the gear and the story. I get all the 'sense of achievement comparing goals on a team' I want in life at work - that's just my mileage on that.

 

Mass team activity bores me most days anyway. I used to do the 40 man raiding thing, and I learned that I loath it. 8 man ops is about as big a group as is care to get regularly involved with, and consequently all I've ever done in on here, as infrequently as its been.

 

I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in the camp of not finding large group stuff all that attractive, at least. Making it easy to do your own thing and get the most or of the game is the direction they're plodding toward, and I approve of it mightily.

 

Now let's see if their housing is as much all noise and no friction as the crafting system is...

Edited June 19, 2014 by Uruare

[Clarian]

Class stories.

 

Faction-only stories maybe could keep me playing...some. Possibly. But there would be a much higher chance that I'd unsubscribe between updates.

[theUndead]

What keeps me playing is my guild, PvP, my raid team and leveling new alts. Generally, like Reno I am pretty chilled when it comes to new content. I will find what I like and do what I like and if I don't like something I won't do it. I am pretty excited about housing even though I used to be one of it's biggest detractors. Also, I should add that I have tried other new MMO's but I simply can't get into them. So for now it is SWTOR for the long haul.

[Vis-Tecum]

first what keeps me playing swtor over another mmo is having companions, cinematic story, dialog options, swtor's combat, the legacy perks, and story driven flashpoints, ops, and pvp.

 

as for what will keep me playing... well as long as there is at least one server open I will keep playing