Is This Really What People Want??

[AlrikFassbauer]

I bet that Bioware wanted to do an offline KOTOR 3, EA said : "no, we don't do any offline stuff anymore !" - and then Bioware decided to change SWTOR into OnlineKOTOR3 ...

 

That's how I see it, personally.

 

And, the bottom line : There won't EVER be an offline Star Wars game (except for mobile devices) anymore !

[nimmerstil]

I bet that Bioware wanted to do an offline KOTOR 3, EA said : "no, we don't do any offline stuff anymore !" - and then Bioware decided to change SWTOR into OnlineKOTOR3 ...

 

That's how I see it, personally.

 

No, they were 'working' on a Star Wars MMO before Kotor-2 was released, and long before BW became part of EA, at least they leaked hints to the forums about it. Also, have you noticed how some of the music in SWTOR is from Kotor-2? Well, it's not, some of the music from SWToR was used in KotOR-2.

Edited October 25, 2015 by nimmerstil

[Nihilkult]

I bet that Bioware wanted to do an offline KOTOR 3, EA said : "no, we don't do any offline stuff anymore !" - and then Bioware decided to change SWTOR into OnlineKOTOR3 ...

 

That's how I see it, personally.

 

And, the bottom line : There won't EVER be an offline Star Wars game (except for mobile devices) anymore !

Guess why I'm not going to buy the new Battlefront?

 

I play Swtor because I'm able to do the stuff I'm interested in solo. If I happened not being able to solo it anymore, I would just leave. Plain simple. I HATE multiplayer online except with people I actually know IRL.

 

This said, I redid a game session today and I don't know what I was smoking last time I played after the 4.0 but these partners are indeed damn overpowered. I don't want them to come back to what they were before, not having to bother with their equipment is A-Ok for me. Though , being able to sit around while my partner does everything without getting hurt (or almost) is a no go for me. I mean just before I was going through that ancient sith temple on Hoth, I just had to rush through everything recklessly to actually get some "serious" (didn't even die) damage. When I was playing seriously I was ending up with life full after taking care of the mobs. (Inquisitor level 40).

 

So I'm still all happy with the core of 4.0 but yeah, these companions should be reviewed a bit. Not TOO MUCH, but enough to have to be a bit careful when going on a mission I mean, I was almost feelling like a level 30 on Korriban before the level-sync (which I'm all happy with).

 

What would be great imo :

- Keep the faster progression so we don't have to stay logged 5 hours a day to see some new planet etc. Not having to do the exploration missions is awesome too.

- Keep it challenging a minimum at the same time. I mean, I know I said before "just remove your gear" etc but wow, seriously, I didn't realize how ridiculously easy it got, my apologies.

Edited October 25, 2015 by Nihilkult

[Idoya]

...I don't spend all of my time playing this game.

 

I'm getting really sick of this "it must be one extreme or the other" attitude. There's no reason why a game can't have a mix of content that caters for casuals AS WELL AS those that want a more gameplay-oriented experience. What they've done with this expansion is cater to the casuals, and remove the stuff that made it interesting for the rest of us. OP is right, if I wanted a choose your own adventure with fancy cut scenes, I can get one on an iPad, and so can you. If I want a movie, I'll go buy a ticket. This is supposed to be a game. That usually implies gameplay. With this expansion, they may as well have made it into an on-rails shooter.

[nimmerstil]

Guess why I'm not going to buy the new Battlefront?

 

So I'm still all happy with the core of 4.0 but yeah, these companions should be reviewed a bit. Not TOO MUCH, but enough to have to be a bit careful when going on a mission I mean, I was almost feelling like a level 30 on Korriban before the level-sync (which I'm all happy with).

You are not the average player, your pc is well equipped, you have collected numerous datacrons, you have high presence bonus and multiple class buffs. Off course you and your companion hit hard.

 

And honestly, even before 4.0 and on my first character, with a mixed bag of gear, PvE usually wasn't all that challenging.

[Yaevinn]

As an avid PVP player in many other MMOs and a former Mythic level raider in WoW, the two main reasons I even activate my SWTOR subscription now and then is to experience the story and the Star Wars universe.

 

I was one of the first to ding 50 during the game's initial launch on my own server, previously I had been the main tank and often an officer in some hardcore raiding guilds, so I understood raiding/ops rather well. When I hit 50 in SWTOR, none of that stuff compared to what I had previously experienced.

 

PVP was fun for while and I did really well in it, but in the long term it didn't seem to offer me anything new when comparing to random battlegrounds and later rated battlegrounds in WoW.

 

I play this game for the leveling / story experience, I play it to live my "Star Wars fantasy". If I wasn't doing those, I'd probably have very little interest in the game overall. The competitors tend to do those aspects better.

 

But nowadays when the communities are getting more unpleasant in any game I've played. Whether it is online shooters, MMORPGs, MOBAs or RTS, I find myself logging onto SWTOR more and more, just to experience the storylines by myself. The game is quite an odd ball for me, I doubt there'd be this amount of customization or different storylines if the game had been KOTOR 3.

 

It'd be more indepth version of one of the class storylines, quite a bit longer, but I doubt thered be that much replay value. I like the fact that I can at one minute be playing a loyal elite Trooper of the Republic and the next I can be a member of the Dark Council. There's bit of everything for a fan of a good story.

 

I recently had a friend who switched from WoW to SWTOR to do PVP. He hadnt played much in the past outside of Warzones and kept skipping every cutscene and fast forwarding every piece of dialogue. I don't think a player like that will get much out of SWTOR. They are missing the main point behind the game.

[Nihilkult]

I'm getting really sick of this "it must be one extreme or the other" attitude. There's no reason why a game can't have a mix of content that caters for casuals AS WELL AS those that want a more gameplay-oriented experience. What they've done with this expansion is cater to the casuals, and remove the stuff that made it interesting for the rest of us. OP is right, if I wanted a choose your own adventure with fancy cut scenes, I can get one on an iPad, and so can you. If I want a movie, I'll go buy a ticket. This is supposed to be a game. That usually implies gameplay. With this expansion, they may as well have made it into an on-rails shooter.

And I'm getting really sick of those guys speaking about casuals like a bunch of plebeians who wouldn't be able to enjoy some gameplay unlike the hardcore gaming master-race.

I play barely an hour a day (I have a life besides) and am a bit disappointed by the overpowering of partners, I don't get why they removed high difficulty on ops as well even though it's not my cup of tea, I think about people who like to do this.

In the other hand, not having to be logged for 5 hours a day for having a chance to see end game content in less than a year is sure appealling to me (and especially my wife lol). Having a chance to come back on stuff I didn't do on such or such planet first because I was more feelling like doing story content without being too OP and getting an XP incentive out of it is great to me too. And because of that i should go buy an iPad game?!

 

Stop being *********** condescending.

 

You are not the average player, your pc is well equipped, you have collected numerous datacrons, you have high presence bonus and multiple class buffs. Off course you and your companion hit hard.

 

And honestly, even before 4.0 and on my first character, with a mixed bag of gear, PvE usually wasn't all that challenging.

 

Well equipped? Yes I guess so. Not the average player? Hum, I honestly don't know, I don't consider myself that good. Numerous datacrons? I must have collected five or six of them, not more. I have one class buff and my partner was level 1 influence (just got him, was on Hoth).

 

Not that much of a warmachine. But yes, good equipment that's for sure.

Edited October 25, 2015 by Nihilkult

[havokhead]

Ok, thank you all for helping me see the light. I've un-subscribed as you all have and am now F2P, I'll just half-*** pick along until the next expansion which should be out in March"ish" where I'll re-sub for a month to play for weekend then un-sub again. That seems to be the new direction of this game so be it. Not sure how long the game will last with this new business model but who really cares. All I know is that I'm done shelling out cash for an element of the game that is worth little more than a movie and the price of a movie.

 

Who knows maybe they'll time the next story expansion to come out with Star Wars 8, that way you can do the expansion in the afternoon and go see the movie in the evening!! That'll be a lot of popcorn...

[DogMeat]

I will agree with \many here on many fronts.

This is a “to each his/her own” type thing.

We all get out what we get out of it.

For me, I get the BW story mode.. they are the best at doing this. Thanks BW.

But…

I did the expansion, all 9 chapters in les then 4 hours… just like SoR. Far to easy and short.

Now what? We wait till January to get 1 chapeter a month. That will take 45 min.. then what.

Story is great abet to short…..

I get to figure out the new crew system. Working getting crafting to work..if it is even worth it at this point.

No new group content, PvP none, nada, zip nil. Yes do PvP to get a new companion….

 

The things some look for, are not there, and some who enjoy just the story, got it and finished in a flash…now what?

 

New companions are way OP, I can just sit back and watch.. no fun in that.

Also, why are NOT all new and old companions able to be customized.. I get droids and the like.

Choices are nowhere near what we were lead to believe they would be/do.

 

Basically the game was streamlined/dumb down to get the F2P players more involved and spend more $$ on CC. If they wanted to help out the F2P players give them more quick bars access and such.

 

What they have done is take from the subed players what they wanted most. Yes we all want more story, it is what BW does better than anyone.

We also wanted sustained game play additions, Content, real content.

I too, like many will un-sub and come back later to see what is new.

 

The changes I see were to help those that did not or would not take the time to learn, just like the skill tree.

Let’s make it super easy, no thought needed, so any 4 year old can play.

Sorry if any of you feel offended, it just means that it’s you, who they are addressing with all this nerfing/stream line/ dumbing down of the game.

No, I am not elite in any way, just like to work for what I get. Not have it handed to me with but a mouse click.

Aside from the story that lasted but for a blink of the eye......

Everything else IMHO was made to make the game easier to play and generate more CC sales.

 

Dög out ….

Edited October 25, 2015 by DogMeat

[Bakakiba]

Oh,

[Ampalaea]

Yes...story is the only reason i play the game..all other aspects of the game are mediocre and are much better made by other MMOs...if I want gameplay/dungeons/raids I prefer wow and FFXIV by faar

[ScoutinArbiter]

Ok, thank you all for helping me see the light. I've un-subscribed as you all have and am now F2P, I'll just half-*** pick along until the next expansion which should be out in March"ish" where I'll re-sub for a month to play for weekend then un-sub again. That seems to be the new direction of this game so be it. Not sure how long the game will last with this new business model but who really cares. All I know is that I'm done shelling out cash for an element of the game that is worth little more than a movie and the price of a movie.

 

Who knows maybe they'll time the next story expansion to come out with Star Wars 8, that way you can do the expansion in the afternoon and go see the movie in the evening!! That'll be a lot of popcorn...

 

Hey have you heard Wildstar has gone f2p? It had many of the old school MMO elements that you love! It has a sci-fi setting too! Go try it out, i'm serious.

 

The rest of us will be here soaking the story.

[BesterX]

This is what I asked for, my only gripe is the story content is short, I'd prefer if it came out with all chapters already done (took me 4 and half hours only, no doubt took some people even less, I was exploring the new enviroments too, I was 65 when I hit end of chapter 6).

 

I don't doubt they'll bundle new flashpoints, and op or two and a warzone or two in the coming episodes, so we'll get some of that content as well, but seeing as storytelling is what BW does the best (what they prove with KOTFE, just see all the little details they've put into the episodes/chapters all down to the atmosphere, the voice acting etc) and seeing as it seems that is what most of people want (aside the loud minority), this expansion will mostly be all about their interactive storytelling.

 

Personally? I love it, more of the same please.

Edited October 25, 2015 by BesterX

[TangledDruid]

The core game is pretty much unchanged.

 

They screwed some abilities for some of my favorite characters, this pissed me off, but stuff like that I can get over in a few days.

 

Level sync is good. I love the idea of new content being added in existing areas. I love that the game is no longer 90% crap that I don't care about or would never travel to.

 

The story is weak, asinine, and a straight copy paste from other games. Plot holes the size of mack truck. No continuity. also, there are few really big head shakers:

 

 

Ok, emperor guy is blocking light saber strikes from his son with the force quite easily. I walk up behind him and give him a one shot saber stab and he dies?. Ok, fine whatever.

 

A little later, I take saber through the chest, and walk away? "the emperor's power kept you alive" ok, why didn't the emperors power keep HIM alive when I stabbed him?

 

 

The new companion system is an absolute fail. The new endgame grind is.. companion gifts? The reason I go back to planets I visited for is to get.. companion affection? When I "win" the purple trunk, I don't even get the dialogue playing as I drive away like Yavin or Rishi, I get ... silence.

 

Very heroic.

 

Even all that I could probably get over, however the cut scene animations are WAY to fast, very jarring. The light sources, I do not have the technical terminology to articulate what is wrong with them, but all the new content looks horrible.

 

The sound... everything new in this expansion sounds like a 1980s AM radio station. Just awful.

 

The crafting... oh dear where to start. I'm actually a bit torn here, as the crafting did need some fixing. Getting rid of the double mat;good. I had a ton of enhancements that had different names, and the exact same stats, getting rid of those; good. Moving certain items to different profession; Bad Shoving a bunch of stuff into "archive" and removing them from the game;bad.

 

I hope the alliance garbage stays optional. I only ran one character through the story to get to it, so I could see firsthand what is was. All my other characters will not be doing it. I really, really hope they fix the companion terminal, so my main character gets the companions I want back, and I can play it normally.

 

I am so frustrated that this story based progression was done so poorly. I love the story. I am the guy you are yelling at the screen "spacebar plz" when doing your group finder weekly. I make my ops group wait when I take a character who has not been there yet before a boss fight.

 

This expansion really feels like they fired anyone one worked on the game before, and brought in the Mass Effect team. Don't get me wrong, I loved Mass Effect, and the first time I played it, the story blew me away.

 

This feels like cheap last ditch effort to gather as many new subs as possible by regurgitating previously successful content.

Edited October 25, 2015 by TangledDruid

[OderWolfe]

All who have criticized the changes to the game resulting from the 4.0 patch have said it much better than I could say it...especially the changes to the companion system...but just for the record...I am not a happy camper.

[Linyivee]

I'm an old-fashioned mmo player, I've been playing mmos for a long time. I'm also a Star Wars fan, Old Republic was a great mix of the two. That's why I'm here. But personally, I think this new direction of SWTOR is just a big mess. They keep saying "Oh ya, all players really want nowadays is more story, more epicness". Really!!?? Come on people!!

 

"Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic" and "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: The Sith Lords" are the two main reasons why "Star Wars: the Old Republic" exists. If it was not for BioWare's great storytelling, the vast majority of "SW: TOR's" population would not exist.

 

 

"Star Wars: Knights of the Fallen Empire" is a great throwback to "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic", for it contains all of the elements that made the franchise successful. 'KOTOR I' and 'KOTOR II's' music is being played in the background. Sions follow the teachings of Darth Sion, which is a character found in "KOTOR II". Darth Nihilus' ability to extinguish all life on a planet is also present.

 

I personally see the family issue mirroring the Sith Triumvirate.

 

Kreia/Atris/Darth Traya (The Mother)

Sion (The Children)

Nihilus (The Father)

The Outlander (The Exile/Force Echo)

 

"Shadow of Reven" = end of "KotOR I's" storyline.

"Knights of the Fallen Empire" = end of the "KotOR II's" storyline.

 

Edited October 25, 2015 by Linyivee

[Velgar]

Yes, yes it is. I like this expansion a lot so far. Far more fun than WoW's last expansion. Without the casual non-raiding, non-pvping players that seem to be despised by certain vocal people on the forums, the servers would have shut down long ago. As Wildstar found out, catering to those hard core types was a financial failure, they crashed and burned, empty servers, and they had to go free to play to survive and it remains to be seen if they will in fact survive long term, once the newness of free to play wears off.

[errant_knight]

I'm really laughing at myself right now. I never come to the forums anymore since they're such a whine-fest, but I thought this time folks would surely be happy and I wanted to tell the Bioware what a great job they did. I underestimated the ability of people to be peeved.

 

Yeah, we could use a way to adjust companion effectiveness now that we can't do it with gear, but there's so much more that's fantastic about this expansion, I thought people would be happy about that. Silly me.

 

I love this expansion, and I thought I would only be happy with more class content. Nope. Love the cutscenes. Love that the story is front and center. Love the way they made the daily-type content not only feel like part of the story, but make much of the previous game content relevant again. Love that they gave us a big new instanced area for rp. Love the way it feels like an rpg and a direct successor to Kotor 1 and 2. Love how much there is to do that feels related to the story and I have a good reason for doing. Love the new companions and new areas. I can't wait for the next chapter, but I have plenty to do until it comes out.

 

In short, Thanks, Bioware. This is great! I sure hope you have some way to measure popularity of content besides this forum, because, holy hell, what gets said here is miles away from reactions in game.

[TheSeventhJedi]

If your choices actually mattered, the story might have replayability. THAT's what I wanted.

What we got, well, I'm not sure I've spent my money wisely.

[Daewan]

In short, Thanks, Bioware. This is great! I sure hope you have some way to measure popularity of content besides this forum, because, holy hell, what gets said here is miles away from reactions in game.

 

This, so much this, so much that I need a new word to say THIS.

[OderWolfe]

I'm an old-fashioned mmo player, I've been playing mmos for a long time. I'm also a Star Wars fan, Old Republic was a great mix of the two. That's why I'm here. But personally, I think this new direction of SWTOR is just a big mess. They keep saying "Oh ya, all players really want nowadays is more story, more epicness". Really!!??

 

Do you really want all of Bioware's resources tied up for months & months to partake in a stream-lined, cut scene infested story arc that can be finished in an afternoon? You don't want any new pvp content? No new operations? Yes I realize these things "may be coming in the near future" but in the meantime this new storyline content just has no re-playability at all. How many times are you willing to follow Lana the "Jedi-wannabe sith" through a swamp? I've been told that this is what players really want and I find it hard to believe.

 

I think you are all confused, you want to sit around for 6 months at a time waiting for an afternoon's entertainment. Then you don't want an mmo, you want a MOVIE!! And great news, there's a Star Wars movie coming out in 2 months!! I'll see you all there but in the meantime I'd like my mmo back because this is not a mmo PC game, this is an advanced version of a read-along book. I used to read those when I was like 7 yrs old. "If you want to jump over the puddle turn to page 63. If you want to go around the puddle instead, then turn to page 89." Either way you're on the other side of the puddle!! Congratulations you finished Chapter 1 - The Puddle, now please wait patiently for 6 more months as we move on to Chapter 2 - The Hill.

 

Come on people!!

AMEN DITTO! Well said!

[ColdFireDragon]

I'm an old-fashioned mmo player, I've been playing mmos for a long time. I'm also a Star Wars fan, Old Republic was a great mix of the two. That's why I'm here. But personally, I think this new direction of SWTOR is just a big mess. They keep saying "Oh ya, all players really want nowadays is more story, more epicness". Really!!??

 

Do you really want all of Bioware's resources tied up for months & months to partake in a stream-lined, cut scene infested story arc that can be finished in an afternoon? You don't want any new pvp content? No new operations? Yes I realize these things "may be coming in the near future" but in the meantime this new storyline content just has no re-playability at all. How many times are you willing to follow Lana the "Jedi-wannabe sith" through a swamp? I've been told that this is what players really want and I find it hard to believe.

 

I think you are all confused, you want to sit around for 6 months at a time waiting for an afternoon's entertainment. Then you don't want an mmo, you want a MOVIE!! And great news, there's a Star Wars movie coming out in 2 months!! I'll see you all there but in the meantime I'd like my mmo back because this is not a mmo PC game, this is an advanced version of a read-along book. I used to read those when I was like 7 yrs old. "If you want to jump over the puddle turn to page 63. If you want to go around the puddle instead, then turn to page 89." Either way you're on the other side of the puddle!! Congratulations you finished Chapter 1 - The Puddle, now please wait patiently for 6 more months as we move on to Chapter 2 - The Hill.

 

Come on people!!

Yes this expansion is *EXACTLY* what I want. Having played MMOs since Ultima Online was in Beta myself I can say without a doubt this is EXACTLY how I have always wanted my MMOs to be.

[Nerfington]

So in terms of Bioware style story, yes, this is exactly what I want. The world design has also increased dramatically from the earlier modular feel, and going through these places is fantastic. The side conversations etc from NPCs are great, and the overall quality has been raised dramatically.

 

In terms of completely unchallenging gameplay outside of that story, no, I think the game definitely isn't where I want it. That being said, at least now that I've finished the current chapters, the combat feels like it's about building up some other meta game in the alliance. When I was just playing 4.0 without KotFE, the gameplay was just stale and boring. I think that they really need to add some decent challenging content options for solo PvE players (with better rewards, so that they're having fun and feel like they're spending their time productively for the increased effort required).

Edited October 28, 2015 by Nerfington

[Jedi_riches]

I can fully understand that people want different this of of every game, me, well I had never played a MMO in my life, it was not something that really took my interest but a heavy story based Star wars game even if a MMO was right up my ally.

 

So since I am here primarily for story I am more than happy with the way the expansion goes my thoughts on the other parts of the game are based on my own view entirely (and are not intended to offend those that like these areas).

Operations - I have done 1 operation and honestly there was too much going on for me to comprehend it was like mayhem, of course since I am in a group with 7 other people I have to "run" at their speed where I would pretty much prefer running at my own speed.

 

PvP - I am not really into fighting against other people its not something that really holds my interest for very long, but on the occasions that I do want to play others I prefer FPS type PvP scenarios so I would play Battlefield 4 or possibly the new Battlefront when released to for fill those gaming areas.

 

So since those are the other 2 main areas of this game, the only thing that will keep me playing is story without it I would have been gone a long time ago.

[CheaterLL]

Yes.

 

The story is the only good thing about TOR. The people who think it has any other redeeming qualities are morons and delusional. The PVP is awful. The gameplay is tedious and they're making it less so. I'd rather wait 6 months for well-written content because, guess what, I don't spend all of my time playing this game. Imagine that. If you want an MMO that gives you 6 months of boring content, that's on you, go play all of the other games. GW2 has better PVP. Wildstar has better gameplay.

 

Look at my sig, bro.

 

You, sir, are the delusional moron.

 

There are other people with other opinions and other valid statements. Get this into your head before talking with or about other people.