An update on the development of SWTOR

[bahramnima]

with 80 devs working on swtor we were getting one content update PER/YEAR, now it is down to 40 and bioware is not in charge anymore, if we still going to get that one content update per/year,with same quality i would be very surprised but i really do not think so, its going to be half maintenance mode, we will get even smaller content update but that is about it, basically swtor will slowly die, i would say 5 years and shut down, such super disappointing news, i am really sad now.

[WayOfTheWarriorx]

Speaking matter-of-factually about the future is a really good way to hear God laugh.

[mentalmackem]

11 hours ago, KeithKanneg said:

Hi all , 

No doubt you’ve read the reports that Electronic Arts is evaluating opportunities to give the game and the team a new home, which includes conversations with Broadsword. Unfortunately, we can't answer any questions you may have at this time.

Game Update 7.3’s June release will remain unchanged and patch notes will be released a day before per usual. 

All future content updates are also moving forward as planned, including 7.3.1 and 7.4. We are looking forward to the future of Star Wars: The Old Republic and its continued growth.

–Keith
 

I get that you can't say anything about the actual switch but one question I do have that hopefully you can answer or pass up the chain to answer is if EA want to do what's best for its players why did we hear this from IGN first? A lot of us have been very loyal to the game since the start surely we deserve to of heard this could be happening direct from EA instead of needing to read it on IGN then come and ask for clarification?

 

If EA want to do what's best for there players can you please pass on to them that by communicating honestly with us would be a good start 

[Whykara]

On the bright side, when this game eventually shuts down I might just finally kick my decade long MMO addiction

[jedimasterjac]

3 minutes ago, mentalmackem said:

if EA want to do what's best for its players why did we hear this from IGN first?

Because the agreement isn’t finalized yet. They’ve signed a letter of intent, which means this move is almost certainly happening, but no company on earth is going to announce the move externally before they’ve got the deal finalized 

[Whykara]

12 minutes ago, mentalmackem said:

if EA want to do what's best for its players why did we hear this from IGN first?

IGN cited an anonymous source, this wasn't official news. EA only confirmed it because the cat has been out of the bag by then. Bioware's communication is really bad, but I wouldn't blame them in this matter.

[Yupicahey]

Any chance of releasing the code so communities could run their own servers? it might be that we find enough people with enough time, love and resources to actually do a decent job of running community servers, especially as AI/LLMs seem like they might breathe new life into story based games with additional generational dialogue for the NPCs, maybe procedurally generated quests, etc.

[Theshadowbehind]

very much doubt a third party will put as much funding into voice acting as EA did. Then again they should have dropped the German and French dub ages ago.

So most likely maintenance mode is coming after 7.4. But guess we have been in semi maintenace mode for the last 2 years already

Edited June 7, 2023 by Theshadowbehind

[jedimasterjac]

21 minutes ago, Yupicahey said:

AI/LLMs seem like they might breathe new life into story based games with additional generational dialogue for the NPCs, maybe procedurally generated quests, etc.

Oh yeah, auto generated schlock that isn’t capable of creating complicated or coherent storylines or understanding theme is definitely gonna be the future of narrative in games. 
 

 

[fabsus]

3 hours ago, mentalmackem said:

I get that you can't say anything about the actual switch but one question I do have that hopefully you can answer or pass up the chain to answer is if EA want to do what's best for its players why did we hear this from IGN first? A lot of us have been very loyal to the game since the start surely we deserve to of heard this could be happening direct from EA instead of needing to read it on IGN then come and ask for clarification?

 

If EA want to do what's best for there players can you please pass on to them that by communicating honestly with us would be a good start 

Imagine you work in a company and the boss tells you at the beginning of the year that the company will close at the end of the year. Would you try to find another job as soon as possible to continue working there safely, or would you wait until the company closes and possibly forgo wages? 

The preparations must have started months ago in order to define the conditions of employment and the expected situation. For example, a somewhat simpler balancing through fewer simultaneously usable abilities, a 64-bit client and an adaptation to be able to run on flexible server structures that make an operation with an even smaller player population more sensible.

If they had announced at the beginning of the transition that SWTOR was moving to another company, we would probably have only half the current player base. 

Nobody is betting on the dead horse.

We cannot expect further changes to be communicated transparently and honestly here either, as this may well be perceived as damaging to the new operator. 
 

For all newcomers, there are hundreds of hours of fun to be had and no one should let others' opinions take away from the fun. Have a wonderful time in the Star Wars universe. 
Veterans will sooner or later leave the game if no new content is to be expected. However, it will remain a great game for newcomers.

Edited June 7, 2023 by fabsus

[Mzuta]

13 hours ago, casirabit said:

Well, it may have been the perfect time for my boyfriend and I to have moved over to FFX

I heard FFX is great. i moved on to ESO. The amount of expansions they have released in a short time show they are dedicated to continue to roll out new content.

[Shayddow]

Quote

Imagine you work in a company and the boss tells you at the beginning of the year that the company will close at the end of the year. 

personally, I wouldn't do either. I'd continue to work until the company shut down, then retire. But then, I'm already at an age where I could retire 🙂

I suppose SWTOR will be the same. I'll play until I can't.

 

[Kurinana]

Is it too late to ask Elon Musk to buy the game to save it? 😅😬 I'm not his fan, but he could hold it for a while before he would find it a better home.  Any greedy corporation would be better than the one that maintains its games in vegetative state.

I just don't want to see this game die... I know it's inevitable, but I imagined it would die naturally, not like this.

[Mzuta]

Then title of Legacy of the Sith was promising however the follow through has been underwhelming.  Also as soon as a Modern Knights of the Old republic would be released most would ditch swtor to play that. It's sad I've been subbed for years and  Have enjoyed this game, but I could tell after kotet that something was off. Then we got echoes of Oblivion which was great and with Legacy of the sith being a wiff.... I also for a long time thought that the team was distracted working on other projects which is why these expansions were being rolled out at a snails pace. Well, I learned a long time ago to hope for the best yet expect the possibility of the worst so you are not disappointed and I never am. 

[Sirsunny]

35 minutes ago, Mzuta said:

I heard FFX is great. i moved on to ESO. The amount of expansions they have released in a short time show they are dedicated to continue to roll out new content.

It´s FFIV and it´s a good game, but not that good how poeple tell across the internet. It´s just a casually hype, seriously.

Yes there is content and the deadlines are normally fulfilled. The graphics are great for a MMORPG and the general story is ok. But the gameplay has huge flaws like having multiple classes but all play the same or you just repeat 3 buttons until the next burst window etc... Healer classes spam one button like 90% of all time. There is also a lot of stuff just copy & pasted to keep those deadlines real.

Raiding on the other hand is kinda interesting, but can become boring and annoying pretty fast. You have no real raids, just bosses and what you do there is playing down a choreography. It´s somewhat interesting to figure stuff out, but once a player stays wrong, it´s mostly a wipe. Tanks can pretty much survive and solo everything which has no enrage, meanwhile healer / dps lack utility to do so.

Dungeons (FP´s) are the worst content in the game. Just bra--dead hallways where you pull everything into the next invisible wall, spam aoe and then go for a boss any decent tank or healer can solo. And yeah, it´s always the same just with other graphics. There is not even a mastermode or something.

Also events are normally... run from one NPC to another or do a low level fate. (Pointless mob-smashing with multiple poeple in the open world.)

Oh and the global cooldown is 2.5s and unless you´ve to weave in a lot of stuff in your burstphases, it´s really boring to play with them since stuff like positional-gameplay and said utility got nearly completely removed.

Legacy is also not a thing. SE don´t want you to play alt-characters. But instead you´re able to play any role on your main. Just level them...

If you play MMORPG´s casually and don´t mind homogenized / dumbdowned gameplay, then FFIV is a great game to find a home, to grind for some pets / mount (2nd mostly recolored per tier) and shiny cosmetics to feel great. Hell even some hardcore-raiders who like choreographies and maxing out parses will find a home here.
But if you want real gameplay, depth in classes, innovative mechanics / gamemodes and some better sideactivities / events, then this game won´t make you happy, especially since more and more classes get cutted each major patch.

(The game has a huge botting issue with farmbots / raidbots aswell. But the most don´t care so...)

 

I personally hope the change will bring SWTOR into a better state. I wouldn´t say it´s the better game objectively. But it has a bigger world, a more unique and faster gameplay and more fresh ideas. (GSF, GSI, Conquering, Legacy, Companions... just to name some.)
I played both for a long time and especially with the changes in FF14 within the last 2 expansions, this game is more like a newcomer-MMORPG or as been said, a fully casual one compared to SWTOR.

Edited June 7, 2023 by Sirsunny

[Tharianus]

44 minutes ago, Sirsunny said:

It´s FFIV and it´s a good game, but not that good how poeple tell across the internet. It´s just a casually hype, seriously.

Yes there is content and the deadlines are normally fulfilled. The graphics are great for a MMORPG and the general story is ok. But the gameplay has huge flaws like having multiple classes but all play the same or you just repeat 3 buttons until the next burst window etc... Healer classes spam one button like 90% of all time. There is also a lot of stuff just copy & pasted to keep those deadlines real.

Raiding on the other hand is kinda interesting, but can become boring and annoying pretty fast. You have no real raids, just bosses and what you do there is playing down a choreography. It´s somewhat interesting to figure stuff out, but once a player stays wrong, it´s mostly a wipe. Tanks can pretty much survive and solo everything which has no enrage, meanwhile healer / dps lack utility to do so.

Dungeons (FP´s) are the worst content in the game. Just bra--dead hallways where you pull everything into the next invisible wall, spam aoe and then go for a boss any decent tank or healer can solo. And yeah, it´s always the same just with other graphics. There is not even a mastermode or something.

Also events are normally... run from one NPC to another or do a low level fate. (Pointless mob-smashing with multiple poeple in the open world.)

Oh and the global cooldown is 2.5s and unless you´ve to weave in a lot of stuff in your burstphases, it´s really boring to play with them since stuff like positional-gameplay and said utility got nearly completely removed.

Legacy is also not a thing. SE don´t want you to play alt-characters. But instead you´re able to play any role on your main. Just level them...

If you play MMORPG´s casually and don´t mind homogenized / dumbdowned gameplay, then FFIV is a great game to find a home, to grind for some pets / mount (2nd mostly recolored per tier) and shiny cosmetics to feel great. Hell even some hardcore-raiders who like choreographies and maxing out parses will find a home here.
But if you want real gameplay, depth in classes, innovative mechanics / gamemodes and some better sideactivities / events, then this game won´t make you happy, especially since more and more classes get cutted each major patch.

(The game has a huge botting issue with farmbots / raidbots aswell. But the most don´t care so...)

 

I personally hope the change will bring SWTOR into a better state. I wouldn´t say it´s the better game objectively. But it has a bigger world, a more unique and faster gameplay and more fresh ideas. (GSF, GSI, Conquering, Legacy, Companions... just to name some.)
I played both for a long time and especially with the changes in FF14 within the last 2 expansions, this game is more like a newcomer-MMORPG or as been said, a fully casual one compared to SWTOR.

Well i disagree... FF14 has got insane Raids - way harder and way more fun (intermissions, mechanics, visuals and so on - Boss Fights really feel like actual Boss fights) than SW:ToR. Crafting is better, too. Story is nice with some cool plot Twists. To have all classes on one Character is also a advantage in my opinion. Iam not a Fan of 244323 alts (i have 322422 alts in swtor because i played all classes and there is no other possibility to Do so). Game looks great Overall. 

The combat is nice 2.5 gcd is slow but with all that weaving inbetween gcds you have plenty to Do. Some classes feel the same i agree but other MMOs are no exception here. 

The downside of FF14 is the community... absolutely passive aggressive cringe Mode here (Huge eRP scene for example)...

you will definitrly Hit a wall if you play ff14 solo... savage and ultimates are fun but you need 8 really dedicated players for it. PvP is way worse than SW:ToR PvP in my opinion. 

[casirabit]

1 hour ago, Mzuta said:

I heard FFX is great. i moved on to ESO. The amount of expansions they have released in a short time show they are dedicated to continue to roll out new content.

FFXIV is great.  My boyfriend and I play there.  We still have a sub here but we haven't played much in a while and so I went to FFXIV, and I love the game.  The storyline is great.  There have been a few instances where I cried due to the storyline, and the people on FFXIV are great and helpful.   You can also have all the jobs (classes) in one character if you wish but you must wait to level 30 to do that, and you must wait until 50, 60 or 70, depending on the class.   It is fun, at least for us.   

[casirabit]

Who are Broadsword Online Games, studio expected to take over Star Wars: The Old Republic Game World Observer

Who are Broadsword Online Games?

The history of Broadsword is closely linked to its founder, Rob Denton. In 1995, he started Mythic Entertainment after joining forces with game designer Mark Jacobs (founder of Adventures Unlimited Software).

They specialized in making various online titles such as Aliens Online and Dragon’s Gate. But the studio was probably best known for their Dark Age of Camelot, an MMORPG launched in 2001 and originally published by Vivendi.

In 2006, Mythic Entertainment was acquired by Electronic Arts and renamed EA Mythic. It went on to develop Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, a rather unsuccessful MMORPG that was released in 2008 and closed in 2013.

After the studio changed its name to BioWare Mythic, Denton served as its general manager and COO. However, EA decided to close the subsidiary in 2014.

Denton then co-founded Broadsword Online Games to further support Dark Age of Camelot. Currently, the studio also maintains the development and operation of Ultima Online.

Other key people on the Broadsword team include producer Bonnie Armstrong, game designer Greg Havlusch, artist Jim Crawley, and more.

Last year, Rob Denton also co-founded Loric Games to develop a brand new co-op survival RPG.

[casirabit]

1 hour ago, Mzuta said:

I heard FFX is great. i moved on to ESO. The amount of expansions they have released in a short time show they are dedicated to continue to roll out new content.

We love it and have fun.  We also found a great guild with great people.  I even a couple of times did a group pickup.   I normally just ask the guild if I need help for a trial or even the raid I needed to do for the storyline.   You can do the sync (which you are at the level you are supposed to be for that trial, etc) or you can run them unsync (you can run them at your current level) but those you have to form the group yourself.

[Sirsunny]

25 minutes ago, Tharianus said:

Well i disagree... FF14 has got insane Raids - way harder and way more fun (intermissions, mechanics, visuals and so on - Boss Fights really feel like actual Boss fights) than SW:ToR.

I´m not saying the raidbosses aren´t great or so. I just said it´s a choreography with mostly repeated tasks like stack / spread / knockback etc...
What lacks hard ARE the classes. No utility and huge homogenization across healer and tank-classes. They´re 95% the same, meanwhile DPS classes got cutted for comfort and 123 combos.
SWTOR don´t have such choreographies. It´s up to the players where they kite, when they swap, what to focus. And no matter how, the gameplay holds its weight even without sick bossmechanics.

Some poeple like playing everything on one char, others don´t... but what should be a thing is to have 4 classes just to claim "Hey we´ve 4 classes.", if the whole difference is some animations in the end.
It´s also something different in SWTOR tbh, atleast in the basegame. I don´t mind playing multiple alts. I mean you´ve different story-lines to discover. And i´m personally a fan of "having race X as tank, Y as heal, etc...". FF14 just don´t offer such storylines, in fact the class stories are bad and overall becamse worse with each expansion. So far repeating the mainstory only and drag yourself through the pointless dungeons etc again, which offer pretty much 0 challenge, is nothing but a chore.
It really depends on the game in this way. I think SWTOR did good with the 2nd class-choice, but it needs to be better implemented with the loadouts. Meanwhile FF14 needs some sort of legacy with account-wide achievements etc... for those who want. You´ve 8 characterslots per server for a reason.

The game had more and better gameplay back in the days, no matter how creepy a rotations has been. Just look at MNK who got cutted hard in his positionals. SMN can be played with a whole macro and you still perform better than 80% of all players in the game. Tanks and healer... look what is written above.

It´s a shame gameplay-wise.

EDIT: Also having all gatherer and craftsman on one character does a lot against trading and the economy in general. It should´ve been limited.

 

25 minutes ago, Tharianus said:

you will definitrly Hit a wall if you play ff14 solo... savage and ultimates are fun but you need 8 really dedicated players for it. PvP is way worse than SW:ToR PvP in my opinion. 

Yeah PvP is crap there.

Raids and Ultimates should be combined with the SWTOR style, then we would probably have perfect ones.
Not just a choreography, give the players possibilties to play around stuff, give them utility. Get ride of healer LB3 that carries a lot of runs, but also stop this "One guy stood at the wrong spot, wipe!".

It´s one of the biggest issue in raiding and a reason why a lot players are toxic af or quit instant. There is no real comeback or play around if just one guy is not smart enough to remember the choreography. (This is why raidbotting has become a serious issue aswell...)
Meanwhile if you´re like me and can remember stuff very well, it´s boring af since "the class-issue".


As been said, both are great games in their terms. But in my personal experience... SWTOR is the more inuvative one who still tries new things, meanwhile FF14 just repeated its contentline for the 4th time this expansion and tries to mainstream everything for the sake of accessibility to everyone. (Which destroys the gameplay for better players / veterans.)
 

Edited June 7, 2023 by Sirsunny

[Kristallia]

14 minutes ago, Tharianus said:

Well i disagree... FF14 has got insane Raids - way harder and way more fun (intermissions, mechanics, visuals and so on - Boss Fights really feel like actual Boss fights) than SW:ToR. Crafting is better, too. Story is nice with some cool plot Twists. To have all classes on one Character is also a advantage in my opinion. Iam not a Fan of 244323 alts (i have 322422 alts in swtor because i played all classes and there is no other possibility to Do so). Game looks great Overall. 

The combat is nice 2.5 gcd is slow but with all that weaving inbetween gcds you have plenty to Do. Some classes feel the same i agree but other MMOs are no exception here. 

The downside of FF14 is the community... absolutely passive aggressive cringe Mode here (Huge eRP scene for example)...

you will definitrly Hit a wall if you play ff14 solo... savage and ultimates are fun but you need 8 really dedicated players for it. PvP is way worse than SW:ToR PvP in my opinion. 

I have played FF14 little bit, I found raid boss fight to be almost the same round room with a boss in a middle, but again I did not play it a lot so new content I did not experience might have more variety.

But I agree that crafting was quite fun! Also the class system is very nice that one character can have many classes, its little bit like how in swtor one character can now have 2 classes, but there one character can have all classes.

[kinhoandrei]

37 minutes ago, Tharianus said:

Well i disagree... FF14 has got insane Raids - way harder and way more fun (intermissions, mechanics, visuals and so on - Boss Fights really feel like actual Boss fights) than SW:ToR. Crafting is better, too. Story is nice with some cool plot Twists. To have all classes on one Character is also a advantage in my opinion. Iam not a Fan of 244323 alts (i have 322422 alts in swtor because i played all classes and there is no other possibility to Do so). Game looks great Overall. 

The combat is nice 2.5 gcd is slow but with all that weaving inbetween gcds you have plenty to Do. Some classes feel the same i agree but other MMOs are no exception here. 

I wish I liked FFXIV like you guys do. I've put in over 100 hours of gameplay and I currently can't look at the menu screen. I have the feeling of a slow game, with a lot of brightness and weightless skills. Unfortunately FFXIV won't be an mmo option for me, I'll keep looking for a game to take swtor's place (over 1,000 hours).

[Tharianus]

15 minutes ago, kinhoandrei said:

I wish I liked FFXIV like you guys do. I've put in over 100 hours of gameplay and I currently can't look at the menu screen. I have the feeling of a slow game, with a lot of brightness and weightless skills. Unfortunately FFXIV won't be an mmo option for me, I'll keep looking for a game to take swtor's place (over 1,000 hours).

I guess you are Max lvl? Which class do you play?

[Dayshadow]

I'd be fine if there were o more updates and they just maintained the servers. I have no interest in anything beyond the vanilla game anyway in terms of story. If the the new company would just fix some bugs that Bioware won't and just leave it be that would be cool. It's been over 10 years and Risha and Vette have had no interaction. Games been on maintenance mode for a while now already. Goodbye, Bioware.

[kinhoandrei]

4 minutes ago, Tharianus said:

I guess you are Max lvl? Which class do you play?

My main character is Dark Knight, but I have others in different levels and servers. I'm not exactly a pro player, I end up playing more alone and doing one or another dungeon through the search engine.