Level 50. My view of the current state of the game (wordy)

[BrambLed]

Thus they assume all MMO's should be as polished and as content rich as WoW is now.

 

Why is this an unreasonable expectation?

 

Blizzard set the bar with WoW, so if other companies aren't meeting the bar, why should people stoop down to poorly thought out games and unfinished products which ask for $15 a month?

 

It doesn't matter that the game just came out, they are trying to pull subscribers from WoW therefore they need to offer similar quality from the get go. If they aren't able to provide that then they should have stuck to single player games.

[BrambLed]

I understand your woes. Quite frankly, though, this game has a better foundation than any MMO I've ever seen. All they need to do is release a couple patches and all of our worries will be over.

 

I know this makes you feel good to think this, but that's not the case at all.

 

Maybe you just don't have a clue how deep the problems run.

 

Outstanding problems since the early beta have yet to be patched, but Bioware will just wave a magic wand and everything will be fine?

 

No. You know better than this.

[andreas_barth]

Sorry can't relate to anything said by these people that rush the game. Your words are pointless in my opinion, we're simply very different kinds of players.

 

Noone can go to 50 that fast without playing the game "on rails".

[Jamjuice]

It doesn't matter that the game just came out, they are trying to pull subscribers from WoW therefore they need to offer similar quality from the get go. If they aren't able to provide that then they should have stuck to single player games.

 

 

By that logic, you should have stuck to playing WoW.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

[Logisitcs]

STOP WITH THE SINGLE PLAYER NONSENSE!

I am going to use the famous WoW as an example, leveling 1-60 now is something that can be done in 2 days, with no group quests whatsoever and limited to non-existent contact with other players unless you LFD, hardly anyone are in the zones anymore!

 

How can you say "WoW is a great mmo! Great multiplayer!" and then turn around and say swtor is single player, yet has more group quests than BC + LK combined, and you see other players in the zone with you, does that make sense?!

 

Lets start using some logic please, its like some of you are putting 2 + 2 together and coming up with 5, its not making sense!

Edited December 27, 2011 by Logisitcs

[Kadoozy]

Very well written and polite OP. However, it sounds like you just described WoW after it's initial release (minus the zones on rails... WoW didn't have that issue imo).

 

Nearly every MMO I've played (and I've been playing since EQ), has suffered a poor release. Most of the time there are AWFUL bugs, little endgame content, extremely unbalanced classes, and just a general beta feeling.

 

Sadly, many players were introduced to MMO's by WoW and started playing WoW long after it's initial release. Thus they assume all MMO's should be as polished and as content rich as WoW is now.

 

It shocks me how pissy people are getting over TOR's problems, because nearly ALL of it's problems are basically expected of an MMO at release.

 

This should have its own thread. Actually it should be sent out to every players email and they should be forced to read it at gunpoint.

[JediSuave]

I understand your woes. Quite frankly, though, this game has a better foundation than any MMO I've ever seen. All they need to do is release a couple patches and all of our worries will be over.

 

couldnt agree more the game just needs a patch to fix issues with the controls. i agree that the force powers are laggy especially in pvp .. its been a WEEK people the fundementals are fine its nice to have an mmo that isnt mindless leveling theres actually an immersive story here

 

it is like a singleplayer game and an mmo which is why it is future in my opinion..i liked wow but i never go into the story as much as swtor...

[Lokai]

 

1. It really feels like a single player game with multiplayer functionality. (the diablo series is a good example of what I mean.) Every server is overpopped with empire and underpopped with republic. I rolled republic and its astounding how few of us there actually are. Another thing that contributes to this feeling is the constant storyzones and instances. Now dont get me wrong, I think bioware did a fantastic job with the story and the immersion of your character aspect. Unfortunately much of this is lost when you see how railed the zones and planets are. Everything feels like a straight line.

 

Change servers, no seriously on my server its fairly balanced really not alot of issues. As for way game plays feeling like a single player game...working as intended! entire point of TOR was to make leveling scheme more tolerable to make it feel like playing Mass Effect or dragon age and in that respect it does its job. Don't like it? to bad this is core design of TOR its not changing. As for people...try making friends have no issues finding groups, and making new friends on both of my servers.

 

2. So many bugs. Now I am not naive enough and unrealistically demanding enough to expect a bug free MMO launch. Far from it. The problem here is many of the bugs are debilitating to the entire game and are broken/flawed core game mechanics. Examples: Ability delay (and at times they dont even go off at all), Raid Frames not updating properly and showing actual health (feel so bad for you healers), the absolute dependency on your companion for survival in everything outside of raids and pvp. The chat window becoming active if you click on it or near it on accident. The extremely buggy UI (again see the raid frames) and the fact that you cannot move it, customize it or change it in any way. The CC bar that displays that you cant be ccd for a short time seems to never work right. Im getting ccd when its full all the time. Abilities canceling themselves in mid attack because you happened to dodge or parry an attack. The guild window never updating. The list goes on and on. I have to reload the UI at least ten or more times per play session. These bugs were present in beta for a long time and were not ever addressed and dont even get me started on the fact that all my romantic storyline options with Kira Carsen are bugged. I have max affection rating with her and have had no dialogue with her at all. Constant settings getting changed back to defaults each time you zone. Confirmed bugs back in beta.

 

LoL have you ever even played a game at launch before? all i can say is having played several games at launch i can name FAR FAR more dire issues from other games during launch! TOR has realitively best launch seen in an mmo, bugs and updates are just part of mmos. Don't like it, wait six months! and resub is just how mmos are...only glaring issue is response time for abilities and canceling do to spamming abilities and even that i'm sure will be fixed in first or second patch.

 

3. Features that the game should have but doesnt. A good example is the ability to /roll or the fact that you have to constantly run to your airlock and cant use your mount in the shipyard every time you want to leave a planet. The fact that when you queue for a WZ as a group and when the warzone ends you are no longer in a group. The inability to queue for the WZ that you wish to queue for. No mailbox on your ship. No dual spec feature and an extremely high cost to respec. The inability to search/filter properly on the AH.

 

wow actually complaining about this? nit picking much? sure devs realize this is annoying but honestly doesnt hurt anything and over all a non-issue hardly game breaking...

 

4. PVP feels incredibly out of whack. I thought there was too much CC in WoW and then I played SWTOR. You move at less than 60% speed 90% of the WZ. The lack of brackets for pvp combat. The broken RNG system of getting pvp gear... why make getting pvp gear so RNG based? Feels like arch in WoW all over again. Of course I know the classes need to be balanced and that it takes time, I realize that and accept that. But how in the hell do you balance a game where level 50s are put on the same team as a level 10? No real rewards for world pvp at all. Even Ilum. Have done it, you get practically nothing.

 

First off balancing an mmo takes time, is not something i expect to happen for at least a year, and even then going to over nerf classes... under nerf others ect ect. Secondly... CC isn't a bad thing in fact i'm happy with all CC in TOR! so sick of games where use 2 stuns and then person destroys you because you cant do anymore and your class relies on that CC! i miss days of actual CC classes(controller/dom of coh/v remain my favorite mmo class) so this game feels nice! CC is important using it at right time, interrupting people and locking down healers are all important! real issue is resolve ticking down to fast! as for whole bolster thing i like it... but bolster effect needs to be revamped. Needs to scan highest level players stats and give EVERYONE around same stats(like 20% lower) then that player. That way everyone on an even playing field. issue isn't with way did warzones issue is with bolster being sub-par atm.

 

Overall the game has potential if bioware can make the necessary changes and make them quickly. Right now though as a whole, the game feels unfinished. I am not a QQr crying for everything to be like wow, nor am I a fanboi. But the excuse I hear the most from fanbois when any issues are brought up is "They are adding that soon." or "They are doing that but it wasnt ready for launch." The WHOLE game wasnt ready for launch imo with so many glaring problems with basic core functionality that any modern MMO needs to have.

 

No issue is your expecting a game that JUST released to have all content and features of other mmos and to be bug free. This is just how launches are... i tell my friends not to get an mmo at launch if cant tolerate bugs and glitches and exploits and hacks because GOING to happen! give game time to mature or leave and be done with it... either way TOR is going to thrive because its a good well designed game with something every other mmo lacks! story that draws you in and makes you feel connected to your character!

 

In the end I stand by my previous statement. The game feels like a single player game with multiplayer functionality. It doesnt feel like an mmo to me. Im not rage quitting, Im going to give bioware and EA a chance to make things right, but Im not going to wait around forever for basic functionality features and bugs that have been present since the first beta phase to be repaired. Worst case Id quit and come back in a few months if things are different.

 

Again that was the intent, they wanted to make an mmo feel fun and enjoyable while leveling up. The single player feel with mmo flavor works well and if you don't like it thats a matter of taste personally i love it! is probably first mmo where i really wanna play through every character just to see story!

 

The game has a lot going for it... Descent PVE flashpoints, awesome crafting system and a great storyline with descent voice acting, but in the end of that is all it has Id rather play SW:KOTOR 1/2 or Mass Effect because those have even better and more immersive stories.

 

Flame if you will.

 

not flaming just pointing out many of you people are griping about things are common in all mmo launches. These problems will get fixed in time but if want a well fleshed out mmo that has 0 bugs and amazing game play hate to tell you this but it doesn't exist. all mmos have bugs... but if you seriously cant stand bugs and ui problems atm go back to your old mmo for awhile and let game mature.

 

-Lokai-

[JediSuave]

This should have its own thread. Actually it should be sent out to every players email and they should be forced to read it at gunpoint.

 

haha agreed! i started playing with wow at a late release...my friends startd telling me about vanilla wow and felt better about this game lol i wish i did get this emaild lol

[Chomag]

How dare you criticize this awesome and game ?!?

[Gordknight]

I know this makes you feel good to think this, but that's not the case at all.

 

Maybe you just don't have a clue how deep the problems run.

 

Outstanding problems since the early beta have yet to be patched, but Bioware will just wave a magic wand and everything will be fine?

 

No. You know better than this.

 

This.

 

And I didnt skip every dialogue in the game. I am on break from college until the 9th. I had decided Id play as much as I could before I continue working on my masters degree, which leaves me very little time to myself at all. I love bioware and their single player games. Awesome immersive stories with emotional connections to the players. SWTOR is no exception. Its that now that I've passed it, there is very little substance afterwards. Feels like I just beat SW:KOTOR 3. Getting to 50 really isnt that hard and I did all the bonus missions on each planet. Because I preorded the first day it was possible to do so, I was able to start playing on the 13th.

 

Anyway I quoted this poster because its true. Sure, a lot of these little less important bugs can be squashed in a simple patch or two, but the core problems I mentioned arent so easily changed.

[stupidhero]

Bioware rushed the game - it's that simple.

 

Instead of using the last months of beta to polish things, those had to be used to at least add in a tiny bit of end game and mid-high lvling content.

 

Could have used 3-4 months more of beta honestly.

[Dizzident]

Did anyone really expect anything else? It was clear this game was meant to capture market share and yea, as history proves , you do that with WoW-like gameplay. Having the SW setting only adds icing on the cake.

 

So this game is a WoW clone in space, having exactly the same problems WoW has.

 

Come on people...

Edited December 27, 2011 by Dizzident

[Zachajariah]

This is a good constructive critism post.

 

No, I'm not trolling.

[Logisitcs]

What do you want at level 50 I don't understand? You don't raid, won't do endgame flashpoints, won't bother collecting datacrons, won't craft, won't do Ilum, won't do warzones, what do you want? Please, enlighten Bioware because I'm sure they're just as confused as I am WHAT SUGGESTIONS DO YOU HAVE FOR LEVEL 50?

 

And be specific

[Vicrodhe]

not flaming just pointing out many of you people are griping about things are common in all mmo launches. These problems will get fixed in time but if want a well fleshed out mmo that has 0 bugs and amazing game play hate to tell you this but it doesn't exist. all mmos have bugs... but if you seriously cant stand bugs and ui problems atm go back to your old mmo for awhile and let game mature.

 

-Lokai-

 

i agree.

[Rayaleith]

This.

 

And I didnt skip every dialogue in the game. I am on break from college until the 9th. I had decided Id play as much as I could before I continue working on my masters degree, which leaves me very little time to myself at all. I love bioware and their single player games. Awesome immersive stories with emotional connections to the players. SWTOR is no exception. Its that now that I've passed it, there is very little substance afterwards. Feels like I just beat SW:KOTOR 3. Getting to 50 really isnt that hard and I did all the bonus missions on each planet. Because I preorded the first day it was possible to do so, I was able to start playing on the 13th.

 

Anyway I quoted this poster because its true. Sure, a lot of these little less important bugs can be squashed in a simple patch or two, but the core problems I mentioned arent so easily changed.

 

You really do not have to excuse yourself. You played the way you like it and as much as you like it. People that criticize others for "rushing" instead of answering concerns or -even better- not posting at all if they have nothing useful to say should not make you feel you have to explain yourself.

[Gordknight]

You really do not have to excuse yourself. You played the way you like it and as much as you like it. People that criticize others for "rushing" instead of answering concerns or -even better- not posting at all if they have nothing useful to say should not make you feel you have to explain yourself.

 

I know I dont, but I felt it would be good to stop the fanbois from singing their chorus of "slow down and enjoy game" echoing throughout this thread further.

Edited December 27, 2011 by Gordknight

[Carinao]

not this again.. sigh..

u can trick me the first time... the second time... but not THIS time. I am not gonna read the same thing in different wording again!

[Mollerina]

is it just me that feels like this game has no replay value since there's only 1 planet per lvl bracket? First character is fun but why would I make a second one? I don't feel like doing all the same boring side-quest only to see a new story thats probably doesnt even represent 10% of my quests. WoW usually had atleast 2 zones per lvl brackets.

 

This is the MOST important thing they DID NOT do in SWTOR.

 

FAIL Bioware... FAIL

[flipper]

I never played WoW at release, I started about halfway through TBC, so I guess around 2 years after release. The levelling experience even after all that time was horrendous...having to walk everywhere until lvl 40; running out of quests and having the choice of grinding out a lvl killing mobs or making an arduous trek across to the other continent. And even when you got to max lvl everything seemed so unbelievably inaccessible. I only point this out, as others have, because people look at WoW with rose-tinted glasses.

 

The release build of TOR is hugely impressive, and much more stable than any other I've played at release. There's as much content as pretty much any other at release aswell, and unlike other mmo's there's far more incentive to lvl another character while you're waiting for additional content. And what's more, the fluidity of levelling at release is something WoW took 6 years post release to achieve which deserves some serious credit. As for this whole 'single player' nonsense...well that's exactly what it is...I'm seeing way more people interacting than I'd normally expect, plus the number of group quests are laying a very solid foundation for those new to mmo's to understand the fundamentals of dungeons and raids.

 

The UI needs updating for sure, and there are some bugs to sort out but nothing drastic. I've encountered far less 'evade' issues than other mmo's and the issues mining nodes are nothing worse that happens even in seasoned mmo's.

 

I agree with alot of what the OP says, but IMO the conclusion is way off.

[Vindor]

2. This game has the least bugs of any other MMO launch I am aware of. If you disagree, mention one MMO launch that had less bugs or less important bugs. I've yet to find a gamebreaking bug.

 

i hate myself for doing that but : World of warcraft ?

 

Also, the ability delay and bug is borderline gamebreaking. But mainly the biggest failure of this game yet is the Republic/Empire ratio imbalance.

 

It doesnt really hurt the vast majority of people yet but i expect a massive whine of PvP oriented players soon enough.

Edited December 27, 2011 by Vindor

[Miltana]

I also agree with Gordknight.

 

However there is one thing that make me worry and hav'nt seen anyone touch that subject.

What is the problem with this game is not with Bioware, its with the game engine istself (HeroEngine).

 

Remember that Bioware has not uses its own developed engine for this game and instead licensed the heroengine, and maybe that engine was not used for this kind of mmo game with this scale.

[Gordknight]

i hate myself for doing that but : World of warcraft ?

 

Also, the ability delay and bug is borderline gamebreaking. But mainly the biggest failure of this game yet is the Republic/Empire ratio imbalance.

 

It doesnt really hurt the vast majority of people yet but i expect a massive whine of PvP oriented players soon enough.

 

This man speaks the truth.

 

The population imbalance is disgusting. Couldnt bioware have taken what AION did to balance pops out and lock out a faction until the other faction was reasonably close. like 2:1 ratio. As of now the ratio is 4:1 in the empires favor on almost every server. Some even worse.

 

The ability delay bug in my opinion is very near game breaking, and as a Jedi Guardian tank its game breaking when your survivability decreases because your ability doesnt trigger, or cancels because you happened to parry or dodge an attack during the abilities animation. Game breaking indeed.

[Anonymousy]

@op

it's not that i don't see where you're coming from but there is a point you missed and that i hit yesterday (lvl 43) after finishing act 2:

you are burned out. give it a rest for a week or two and start-over on a more casual schedule.

 

there is no raiding, max crafting doesn't sell and people are spamming the general channel with stupid questions, lfg and trade at the same time.

take a chill pill and enjoy the ride.