Top 10 criticisms of SW:TOR with responses

[DeathCorp]

Agreed, very good post!

[Huhn]

You dont seem to like the game as designed. Sounds like you need to find another game.

 

 

This whole thread has been nothing but you completely disregarding any viable criticism with this statement. I am guessing you were just look for a thread circle jerk about how awesome the game is and how the haters sucks? It is obvious you have no interest in any actual discussion.

 

 

I like the game, I really do but it has issues, and there are some valid criticism of the game. criticism from the the player base, both good and bad, is extremely important to the development cycle of an ongoing MMO, If everyone is just puking rainbows and ******** unicorns all over the place nothing changes.

[Shaede]

1) Troll thread about "top 10 criticisms".

2) Fail?

 

Make your own top 10 list if you dont like mine

 

I've been reading complaint threads since last summer. These rank nowhere near the highest, and you have many replies, so I figured I'd point them out. If you want to address what people's main concerns are, respond to these criticisms:

 

1) Game feels dead due to sharding of players. Seems like a single player experience.

 

2) Endgame non-existent / unfinished.

 

3) Character responsiveness.

 

4) UI is inadequate and unmoddable.

 

5) Game is lacking basic features that even other games of its kind on a smaller development cycle and significantly less investment have.

 

6) Gameplay is too similar to WoW.

 

7) Space combat is pointless.

 

8) Character customization is extremely limited.

 

9) Player decisions don't matter (they did in earlier beta builds, but this feature was later removed). Yes, you somewhat responded to this one.

 

10) No dungeon finder (this criticism was not made in beta as far as I can remember). You responded to this one.

[Samaul]

I have to ask, are you really looking for responses about the game or not? I ask, because a thread about this very problem, in its 3rd iteration, cannot constitute a mass of trolls. Just because you did not experience the problem, does not mean there is not one.

 

This is not a bug reporting thread. That is an issue for some and not for others. BW is working on it. Feel free to make a top ten list of bugs.

[snittsel]

1. Bad or cartoon-y looking graphics.

 

> Its called stylized graphics. SW:TOR's graphics are not designed to be photo-realistic so that they will not look dated in a year or two. If you want photo-realism, play BF3 (great game EA).

 

The graphics are not groundbreaking, but I think they are good enough

2. Linear storyline.

 

> SW:TOR is a story-line driven game. All MMORPGs with experienced-based character leveling are by nature linear to some extent. SW:TOR is unique in that at each step in the storyline, you can make decisions from multiple paths that will affect the destiny of your character.

 

There are a few problems with the story:

1 : your decisions don't change the story path. And if they do, it's minimal. I could live with a story where option A makes you go to a planet, and option B makes you go to an other planet ( or something like that ).

2 : it's not a never ending story, once you hit 50 its over. Operations, Flashpoints, pvp, ... could all been used to create some kind of never ending story, but they don't realy fit in.

 

3. No open world. I dont like exhaustion or boundaries.

 

> Its a big galaxy, did you expect to be able to ride a speeder from one planet to another? Exhaustion and boundaries are part of every MMORPG including WoW. No game world goes on forever.

 

There is just too much instancing at the moment. Would have been cool it you would have been able to grab your unique spaceship in a real spaceport where all other spaceships were visible, and realy been able to seamlessly fly manually to the imperial fleet ( with the space battles blended in ).

 

4. No dungeon finder.

 

> Type /who and hit enter. You can find people who are LFG and in the zone where you are questing or doing heroics. Dungeon finders, especially x-server destroy MMO communities and distort character progression by removing players from the flow of the game and rewarding bad behavior. Server communities are self policing, if you behave badly, you will be removed from your flashpoint or heroic group and likely remembered so be a team player and help your group.

 

But you have to be in the zone where you're looking for that flashpoint, would have been nice if you could have been pvp'ing while forming a flashpoint grp. And x-server destroy the communities, that would been a point if the frashpoint was part of the world, now its an instance not visible in it.

 

5. No x-server warzone finder.

 

> Just click the Republic or Empire button and wait, you can queue with a group from your guild or server. See #4 for x-server issues and their effect on server communities. If you want a mindless, anonymous pvp grind, SW:TOR is not the game for you.

 

again, warzones are not part of the world, it's an instanced minigame. Make some decent open world pvp to create a nice server communtie( and maybe give OwPvP the best rewards ). Warzones can be instanced with x-server and rankings. And at least give us the option to choose what warzones we wanne play.

 

6. No flying mounts.

 

> You have your own space ship, you can go anywhere in the galaxy in an instant. What more do you want?

 

Now you have a load-screen from the planet to the orbital station, then a load-screen from that station to your ship, from that ship you can choose an instanced world, load that worlds orbital station and from that station you can load the planet. They could have come up with something better right ?

 

7. Companion crafting and gathering.

 

> You have more than one of your own personal valet, bodygaurd, cyber-@#$ toy, servant or slave. Yes, you have to equip it and give it gifts. What more do you want?

 

I don't rly like the companions, they support the solo/single player nature of the game.

 

8. SW:TOR is boring, cut scenes and voice acting are time consuming and a waste of time.

 

> Voice acting and cut scenes are a key part of the game. If you have MMORPG ADHD, try ritalin. If that doesnt work, SW:TOR is not the game for you. Group or social gameplay is strongly encouraged. If you dont play well with others, there are some parts of the game that you will not experience.

 

I personally think the cut scenes are a nice addition to the player's personal story, but it's overkill for most other quests. I don't need to listen to a random npc for 5min why I have to kill 30 space monkeys.

 

9. SW:TOR is not a true MMORPG.

 

> By whose standard? It may not be the MMORPG you are used to but SW:TOR is definitely an MMO-ROLE-PG. Take it from a role-player, SW:TOR is a role-players wet dream.

 

Depends on what you're definition is of an mmorpg, it's an endless meaningless discussion. But less instancing, pvp and dungeons part of the world, high populations and better social features would have made the game better.

 

10. SW:TOR is buggy.

 

> More than 3 years and hundreds of millions of dollars in development. Take it from a software developer, software development is an imperfect process. BioWare does it better than most. Given the size and scope of SW:TOR, the game is remarkably stable and bug free. If you find a bug, report it. Remember that THE LACK OF A FEATURE THAT YOU WANT IS NOT A BUG. BioWare's programmers are bug-stomping as you read this.

 

the ability delay is just irritating, no excuse

[PowerElectronic]

This game is a bunch of tunnels and elevators. The only planet I really enjoyed was Tatooine. Least # of elevators.

[PowerElectronic]

1. Bad or cartoon-y looking graphics.

 

> Its called stylized graphics. SW:TOR's graphics are not designed to be photo-realistic so that they will not look dated in a year or two. If you want photo-realism, play BF3 (great game EA).

 

2. Linear storyline.

 

> SW:TOR is a story-line driven game. All MMORPGs with experienced-based character leveling are by nature linear to some extent. SW:TOR is unique in that at each step in the storyline, you can make decisions from multiple paths that will affect the destiny of your character.

 

3. No open world. I dont like exhaustion or boundaries.

 

> Its a big galaxy, did you expect to be able to ride a speeder from one planet to another? Exhaustion and boundaries are part of every MMORPG including WoW. No game world goes on forever.

 

4. No dungeon finder.

 

> Type /who and hit enter. You can find people who are LFG and in the zone where you are questing or doing heroics. Dungeon finders, especially x-server destroy MMO communities and distort character progression by removing players from the flow of the game and rewarding bad behavior. Server communities are self policing, if you behave badly, you will be removed from your flashpoint or heroic group and likely remembered so be a team player and help your group.

 

5. No x-server warzone finder.

 

> Just click the Republic or Empire button and wait, you can queue with a group from your guild or server. See #4 for x-server issues and their effect on server communities. If you want a mindless, anonymous pvp grind, SW:TOR is not the game for you.

 

6. No flying mounts.

 

> You have your own space ship, you can go anywhere in the galaxy in an instant. What more do you want?

 

7. Companion crafting and gathering.

 

> You have more than one of your own personal valet, bodygaurd, cyber-@#$ toy, servant or slave. Yes, you have to equip it and give it gifts. What more do you want?

 

8. SW:TOR is boring, cut scenes and voice acting are time consuming and a waste of time.

 

> Voice acting and cut scenes are a key part of the game. If you have MMORPG ADHD, try ritalin. If that doesnt work, SW:TOR is not the game for you. Group or social gameplay is strongly encouraged. If you dont play well with others, there are some parts of the game that you will not experience.

 

9. SW:TOR is not a true MMORPG.

 

> By whose standard? It may not be the MMORPG you are used to but SW:TOR is definitely an MMO-ROLE-PG. Take it from a role-player, SW:TOR is a role-players wet dream.

 

10. SW:TOR is buggy.

 

> More than 3 years and hundreds of millions of dollars in development. Take it from a software developer, software development is an imperfect process. BioWare does it better than most. Given the size and scope of SW:TOR, the game is remarkably stable and bug free. If you find a bug, report it. Remember that THE LACK OF A FEATURE THAT YOU WANT IS NOT A BUG. BioWare's programmers are bug-stomping as you read this.

 

No one cares.

Bioware is not getting my money.

[Idiots]

The complaint is that the planets themselves are linear and not open.

 

No one expected to take a speeder to a different planet, and for you to assume that is just silly.

 

The planets are like corridors. Not open "zones".

 

maybe you should leave the starting planets then before you post ignorant statements

[Samaul]

This whole thread has been nothing but you completely disregarding any viable criticism with this statement. I am guessing you were just look for a thread circle jerk about how awesome the game is and how the haters sucks? It is obvious you have no interest in any actual discussion.

 

 

I like the game, I really do but it has issues, and there are some valid criticism of the game. criticism from the the player base, both good and bad, is extremely important to the development cycle of an ongoing MMO, If everyone is just puking rainbows and ******** unicorns all over the place nothing changes.

 

Most of the haters and flamers fall into a few categories

 

1. Deliberately trying to sabatoge SWTOR.

2. Lying about SWTOR features and gameplay.

3. Dont like the game as designed.

4. Dont "get" the game or just dont understand it.

 

I dont listen to flamers and haters because they have a negative, hostile, destructive agenda that is designed to harm the game that myself, my friends and my guild plays.

 

"nothing changes" is a ludicrous statement. There have already been how many hotfixes and more on the way?

Edited January 2, 2012 by Samaul

[Samaul]

No one cares.

Bioware is not getting my money.

 

Apparently, a lot of people do care. Fine, dont pay them

[Samaul]

This game is a bunch of tunnels and elevators. The only planet I really enjoyed was Tatooine. Least # of elevators.

 

Sounds like most big cities.

[Ethern]

All I read is bad justifications from a fanboy. I like the game as well, but it does not prevent me from being objective.

 

Simple facts:

 

#3 & 9: The game is heavily sharded, instanced and the planets exploration potential is near zero, particularly on Kaas, Nar Shadaa, etc.

 

#4 - The O /who group finder is insufficient. Why? Not cross planet. Proof? Hundreds threads asking for a real LFD.

 

#7 Crafting is bad. Not only the filling bar game is not removed, but it is longer than in other MMOs: Send companions to gather = 5 min. Send companion to craft = 5 min for 1 item !!

 

#10 - TOR is buggy as every Bugioware game I played. Don't make me start on ME2. On which basis are you relying when claiming it does better than other games?

 

People are entitled to complain when it is due, in order to make the game improved. Fanboys like you who claim that everything is fine are a plague.

[Zirithil]

Trolls get too many responses in this forum.

 

You mean like this thread?

 

Like at least half of your list is stuff I've barely, if at all, have seen on this forum. Not to mention your counter attacks are short and some of them such as number 3, don't even seem to be very related to the complaint at all...

[McAvinue]

This is not a bug reporting thread. That is an issue for some and not for others. BW is working on it. Feel free to make a top ten list of bugs.

 

Wow, you absolutely amaze me! The bug is an issue, and you listed it as such in your #10. I'm going to ignore you now, since you obviously only want to bait people.

[PowerElectronic]

Apparently, a lot of people do care. Fine, dont pay them

 

I will return in dec-2012 to say "I told you so".

 

This game will be f2p by then.

 

Enjoy being one of the proud p2p players pissing their money away. I would love to talk to you when this game goes f2p.

[McAvinue]

Most of the haters and flamers fall into a few categories

 

1. Deliberately trying to sabatoge SWTOR.

2. Lying about SWTOR features and gameplay.

3. Dont like the game as designed.

4. Dont "get" the game or just dont understand it.

 

I dont listen to flamers and haters because they have a negative, hostile, destructive agenda that is designed to harm the game that myself, my friends and my guild plays.

 

"nothing changes" is a ludicrous statement. There have already been how many hotfixes and more on the way?

 

None of those hotfixes have yet fixed any of the major issues players are complaining about.

 

Also, I like your #2 there. Gives you the ability to call anyone a lair if you disagree with them about anything in the game.

Edited January 2, 2012 by McAvinue

[Justgriffin]

Best post ever, whats that i smell?... Trolls, ON THE HORIZON!

[Scandana]

Flying taxi?

 

LOL Yeah, you never seen em? Alderaan... Feels like I am riding air shamu.

[Samaul]

I've been reading complaint threads since last summer. These rank nowhere near the highest, and you have many replies, so I figured I'd point them out. If you want to address what people's main concerns are, respond to these criticisms:

 

1) Game feels dead due to sharding of players. Seems like a single player experience.

 

> This is a phony, false criticizm, what time are you playing, 4 am? Most zones have 50-150 people in them in my experience.

 

2) Endgame non-existent / unfinished.

 

> Another false criticism. There is definitely end game content. Maybe you dont like it or maybe you want more but its there.

 

3) Character responsiveness.

 

> This may depend greatly on hardware and connection. I have not experienced this problem.

 

4) UI is inadequate and unmoddable.

 

> And I am so glad it is. Mods mean exploits and lag. Macros mean chat spam from Real Money Traders. The open chat channels have been blessedly free from RMT spam.

 

5) Game is lacking basic features that even other games of its kind on a smaller development cycle and significantly less investment have.

 

> That is your opinion, I do not agree. SWTOR has many new, innovative features.

 

6) Gameplay is too similar to WoW.

 

> I totally disagree. While there are similarities, SWTOR does not feel like wow and I still play WoW.

 

7) Space combat is pointless.

 

> If space combat is pointless, then all gaming is pointless. What were you expecting, space epics? Try playing space combat for FUN.

 

8) Character customization is extremely limited.

 

> There is some truth in this but it can easily be changed. I do like the random name generators and how they are unique for each race.

 

9) Player decisions don't matter (they did in earlier beta builds, but this feature was later removed). Yes, you somewhat responded to this one.

 

> This is absolutely false. Maybe they dont matter enough for you but player decisions make a huge difference in SWTOR.

 

10) No dungeon finder (this criticism was not made in beta as far as I can remember). You responded to this one.

 

> If you want an anyonymous x-server, troll-filled, frustrating, abusive endless dungeon grind, go back to wow. I do agree that a level or zone-based, single-server LFD tool could be helpful.

 

See embedded responses.

[Samaul]

None of those hotfixes have yet fixed any of the major issues players are complaining about.

 

Also, I like your #2 there. Gives you the ability to call anyone a lair if you disagree with them about anything in the game.

 

Again, this is not a top ten bug or issue thread. Feel free to make your own

[darthjerro]

Agree 100% .

ESPECIALLY point 9. Best roleplayer ive played in years, and a mmo to boot, what more could i ask for.

[McAvinue]

Again, this is not a top ten bug or issue thread. Feel free to make your own

 

No this is a Top 10 criticisms of SW:TOR with responses : and my criticism is that there are bugs in the game that are not being worked on, nor acknowledge. This has been my responds to you about ISSUE #10.

 

Seriously, don't know if troll or....

[andrelle]

Most of the haters and flamers fall into a few categories

 

1. Deliberately trying to sabatoge SWTOR.

2. Lying about SWTOR features and gameplay.

3. Dont like the game as designed.

4. Dont "get" the game or just dont understand it.

 

I dont listen to flamers and haters because they have a negative, hostile, destructive agenda that is designed to harm the game that myself, my friends and my guild plays.

 

You deliberately made up minor criticisms to prove your point. You've lost all credibility. Especially with the "no flying mount" argument. You are completely lying about that being a discussion point.

 

#1 & #2 are your own conspiracy theories. #3 - the game does not have basic MMO design features. Do you think it does? If so, why do you? Start offering some explanation for your accusations.

 

#4 - pure reactionary troll statement.

 

Why not do some research into the real issues the community is talking about before starting a thread like this.

 

You want to save your game, start addressing the facts and leave the lies at the door. Or we'll see you as you are, a true politician.

[Sandmanmr]

agree btw i seen a hater quit because of this:

 

11. there are no group quests:

 

yes there are heroic quests, operations and flashpoints

[Ghaiana]

I'm mostly surprised on this forum, that people complain about the story and all quests being voiced over and animated and about companions and lightside/darkside choices. If those people had ever played one Bioware game in their lives before, they would have known what they had bargained for. It's good to have diversity on the market with a strong signature of the gamemaker on it and this is all the way a Bioware game.