legacy level 6 was better than saying you had to be 50 but what would have made more sense would have been to realize that any customer who has been subbed continuously since the beginning regardless of how far they have gotten might be a valued customer. I am playing the game pretty casually right now with a friend. I don't play when he doesn't play because I really don't have much motivation to play another class than the one I play with him and I don't want that character to out level him. He can only play once or twice in a week because of family commitments. So the result is that we have only just made it to Alderaan. Neither of us have finished the first chapter. Both of use have been subbed since day one. Both of us have been classified as not as valuable appearently. Why? because we are enjoying the game at too leisurely a pace. This doesn't exactly encourage me to continue being a loyal supporter of the game. Good news is that my buddy decided to preorder GW2 with me so we probably wont be putting up with biofail indefinitly.
As to the legacy unlock feature, another example of the author wanting everything now. Having to work toward's any goal is too much work I guess for them. The idea is to keep people in the game playing and having goals to reach that cannot be immediately satisfied. Basically the author should be abashed they even mentioned this topic.
There's a big difference between, "Wanting everything now" and, "Some of the most basic gameplay elements, many of which are actually very critical to player enjoyment, being gated off". Having unlockable races is a bit silly.
Why should I be forced to either re-play my prefered class after I've unlocked the race I would rather play, or why should I be forced to level up a class I'm not that interested in so that I can play as my prefered race? I'm all for unlocking additional things like appearences ect., but these are things that should be applied to all your characters once you've worked hard to unlock them, not something you need to go back and start over to take advantage of.
Honestly I think allowing players to unlock the other races (especially things like the sith races playing as republic) is extremely strange. While I'm no lore junky, it seems pretty counter-intuitive from my decent knowledge of Star Wars (I've seen the movies, except Episode 2/3, and have learned my fair share of stuff about the movies outside of that. None of the expanded universe stuff though).
I don't think Bioware ever really wanted to make a MMORPG in the first place. This smells of something EA insisted on, given their penchant for creating games with a heavy dependence on an internet connection. SWTOR suffers from a bad case of the "good-enoughs". There's no other explanation for a release with most of the content on rails and so many glaring mistakes that would never have passed muster with any responsible developer. The fingerprints of the developers of Warhammer: Age of Reckoning are painfully obvious here.
EA is proving to be the Kiss of Death for any MMO they touch.
"Soloists and those who prefer small groups should never have to feel like they''re the ones getting the proverbial table scraps, as it were." - Scott Hartsman, Senior Producer, Everquest II "People love groups. Its a fallacy that people want to play solo all the time." - Scott Hartsman, Executive Producer, Rift
As to the legacy unlock feature, another example of the author wanting everything now. Having to work toward's any goal is too much work I guess for them. The idea is to keep people in the game playing and having goals to reach that cannot be immediately satisfied. Basically the author should be abashed they even mentioned this topic.
This is all fine and dandy BUT you have absolutely no way outside of boring repeatable garbage (dailies), repeatable fp's (or op's if you're lucky), or play the GTN. This is what most ppl complain about, that and the fact that plenty of the legacy stuff is mostly useless (GTN is linked only the neutral one, rocket boots is treated as a vehicle so it's useless where it should work mainly anywhere where sprint works, etc,)
If BW can add activities that are fun to do (mini-games anyone?) , and useful legacy stuff (maybe 1.3) ppl would not complain that much about the prices.
As for the other items on the post, was really nailed on.
I don't think Bioware ever really wanted to make a MMORPG in the first place. This smells of something EA insisted on, given their penchant for creating games with a heavy dependence on an internet connection. SWTOR suffers from a bad case of the "good-enoughs". There's no other explanation for a release with most of the content on rails and so many glaring mistakes that would never have passed muster with any responsible developer. The fingerprints of the developers of Warhammer: Age of Reckoning are painfully obvious here.
EA is proving to be the Kiss of Death for any MMO they touch.
I enjoy a good speculation like many others, but please ...
Bioware announced their MMORPG studio Bioware Austin and that they already had begun development in March 2006 (http://www.gamespot.com/news/bioware-unveils-texas-mmorpg-studio-6145813), EA acquired Bioware in October 2007, about 1 1/2 years after Bioware had openend their MMORPG studio.
Yet you think that EA forced Bioware to make an MMORPG ...
I maintain this List of Sandbox MMORPGs. Please post or send PM for corrections and suggestions.
Didnt think MMORPG had it in them to run an article that wasnt anything but positive toward SWTOR.
Good on ya MikeB
I would be more impressed if they had not written 60+ overly postitve previews, articles, features, and "news items" that almost to a one, over accentuate the positive and minimize or ignore the negative aspects/features of this game, of which a good many were obvious.
That there have been exactly two negative items on this site (not counting the guy they fired that was also giving TOR an unfavorable review)
This site has been a strong proponent/supporter of this game almost from the beginning, one has to wonder why....
And the articles are all there for people to look up, should they be so inclined....
It is nice to see some fair balance. I do think that it was mostly promted by the large outcry in the forums here, but Kudos to MMORPG.com & Mike B.for listening to what everyone had to say!
So i just don't get why people only like the negative articles. I love tor. Ill say it now , i Have a blast playing it , I love the stories, That said it does have some issues , I dont mind the pandemic being over as i didnt participate, i never do in this kinda stuff in games.
That said since i pefer to level alts in tor to end game i dont care about armor set looks. Not really. I do have an issue witn price of legacy unlocks as i dont have that much credits even on my 50
I think the part with rewarding players with 30 days game time, It should of been based on how long u had an active account not on what level a character u have or legacy level but thats me. I have a 50 and legacy level 6 so i get 30 days free , my gf doesnt even though has subbed since day 1 so she wont get it.
I think anyone who has subbed to tor from day 1 should get 30 days free but thats me.
Well thanks for some balance on this one, Mr Bitton.
If any adjective can be used to describe the way Bioware handled this patch, (and in fact the rest of the game as well) I think "Inept" fits pretty well. I have to admit I'm starting to feel bad about continually bad-mouthing the SWTOR tech team as with every new screw up it is starting to feel like bullying a mentally handicapped person. It really seems that this is the best that they can do and to continue to expect better of them is monsterously unfair.
I watched my house mate's rekindled interest in the game from the Legacy system (and the free month) turn to utter scorn in the pace of a few short days when they relized that if they wanted to try the legacy system with other players they would first have to re-roll on actually populated servers and start completely over. And then saw just how much grind would be involved on top of just regrinding their toons and trade skills. They have already re-abandonded the game and gone back to their stand by games until some of the new MMOs come out later this year.
"Gypsies, tramps, and thieves, we were called by the Admin of the site . . . "
While I do feel that BioWare did the right thing by expanding the legacy promotion, it was indeed the case of too little, too late. By that time they had already pissed off too many of their long-term subscribers. I know that initially, as someone that had purchased a 6-month sub but lacked a level 50 character, I was none too pleased. Unfortunately, I simply don't have as much time to play as most, yet I still pay the same price as someone that does.
Two of my friends decided that the promotion was the final straw and have now left. Those in our guild that were still remaining are all gone. If the three guilds I've been connected to are any indication, to say SWTOR is bleeding subs is an understatment.
IMHO, the game while lacking content, itsn't that bad. However, BioWare/EA sure appear to have a knack toward sabotaging SWTOR's long-term success.
New Armor Sets -- Quite hideous, as expected. Fortunately this game allows players to upgrade the lower-level (and VASTLY better-looking) armor sets, so it didn't matter.
Ranked Warzones -- I have NO interest in warzones, so this feature/change was completely irrelevant to me.
Legacy Unlock Costs -- Here again, this was like raising the cost of Porsches. It's too bad, I guess, but it's all far above my "pay grade" in this game and thus a nonissue.
Rakghoul Pandemic -- All this amounted to, for me, was occasionally getting infected while at the Imperial Fleet/Republic Fleet. It all seemed less like an "event" and more like a big, pointless, mildly annoying "non-event" to me.
Legacy Promotion -- Oh, my gosh. I completely agree with the OP on this. What an idiotic, bone-headed implementation. Are the Bioware folks absolutely clueless? Seriously, to single out the power levelers as your "favorites" and then, by default, slap the multiple-alt players in the face, even though both types of players playing just as long and as much and are just as loyal, was epically stupid, imo. As the OP stated, it is mind-boggling that NO ONE at Bioware realized how offensive this selective reward. Un-freaking-believable.
wowzers what happened MMORPG.com, did EA cut you guys off the payroll? They quit sending you cash to write blantantly bias revewis? I had to read this article 2 or 3 times just to make sure my eyes were not deceiving me. Maybe you guys will start writing reveiws and telling us how it really is again? I doubt it, once EA has another major title, single player or MMO, I am sure ill see it plastered all over the site. Days of press members giving real reviews are over, unfortunatly for gamers its all arse kissing now.
Waiting for:EQ-Next, ArcheAge (not so much anymore) Now Playing: N/A Worst MMO: FFXIV Favorite MMO: FFXI
WoW has annual week long events. I suspect the Rakghoul Pandemic is now swtor Annual week long event. Hopefully there will be more added.
EA BW values active players that fill servers as well as pay their bills. They did miss an opportunity. Nothing draws a crowd like free stuff & The Legacy Promotion should have given the free stuff to as many players as possible. The problem that they were trying to deal with, are paying players who don’t show up to play. This makes the game worlds look empty, and new players don’t stay long. The promotions should have given players free time, for time spent actively playing the game and filling up the servers. Say 1 day of free time for every 8 hour played in prime time, over thirty days for a Max of 30 days. Some would get 30 days, other less. But the servers would be full of people trying to earn that free time making the game look more active.
Pardon any spelling errors
Konfess your cyns and some maybe forgiven Boy: Why can't I talk to Him? Mom: We don't talk to Priests. As if it could exist, without being payed for. F2P means you get what you paid for. Pay nothing, get nothing. Even telemarketers wouldn't think that. It costs money to play. Therefore P2W.
It is nice to see some fair balance. I do think that it was mostly promted by the large outcry in the forums here, but Kudos to MMORPG.com & Mike B.for listening to what everyone had to say!
Nope. I just write whatever I feel like writing. This isn't the first or last critical article I've written about TOR in the 2+ years I've been writing about the game. I just thought that since I highlighted some of the better aspects of the update it would be fun to also discuss the worst bits.
I got an email saying play for free over the weekend of the 1.2 release. The weekend was almost over when I received that email. Then another saying if I subscribed I would receive 30 days free, giving me something like 14hrs to the deadline to make up my mind before that offer expired. While I appreciate receiving stuff to entice me back, it really needs to go out well before the weekend starts and the extra month offer should also have given me plenty time to consider.
Not exactly confidence inspiring or a great way to hook me back into subscribing. I passed.
Decent write-up, but for the life of me, I don't see how the crafting changes for custom items didn't make the list. Most were expecting to be able to "level up" the schematics they purchased from their crew skill trainer to orange quality, and have the ability to reverse engineer looted orange items for the chance to learn the schematic, neither of which happened.
There were misleading statements made by Devs early on in the testing of update 1.2 that led to this confusion. Though the devs later clarified those statements, many did not get the memo, and were pretty upset with the system that was implemented. Many people are upset because there are many items that people would like to use for their appearance, but those items do not have orange quality schematics. Many of the low level gear sets for jedi/sith characters have no orange schematics for gloves or boots.
Overall, this dissapointed a lot of players, and definitely should have been on the list, and fairly high on it.
I so wish EA read all of these comments.... (I was 2nd post) since all the bad junk that has been introduced by EA, both my wife & I have just two mos to go in our subs; We will be in GW2 beta this weekend (yeah, we bought the game) Will play SWTOR until... Sorry EA, your hype & monthly sub just isn't worth it!
Decent write-up, but for the life of me, I don't see how the crafting changes for custom items didn't make the list. Most were expecting to be able to "level up" the schematics they purchased from their crew skill trainer to orange quality, and have the ability to reverse engineer looted orange items for the chance to learn the schematic, neither of which happened.
There were misleading statements made by Devs early on in the testing of update 1.2 that led to this confusion. Though the devs later clarified those statements, many did not get the memo, and were pretty upset with the system that was implemented. Many people are upset because there are many items that people would like to use for their appearance, but those items do not have orange quality schematics. Many of the low level gear sets for jedi/sith characters have no orange schematics for gloves or boots.
Overall, this dissapointed a lot of players, and definitely should have been on the list, and fairly high on it.
Yuppers! As a high crafter in several fields, the mention of what was is not as it is now...
Nice write up, i waited for this game since the secret project announcement and had a guild ready just for this game over the last 3 years and paid a shed load of coins out for the CE edition(waste of money), in the last week ive quit both.
Its just the lack of bug fixing that griped me more personally, 5 bugs with the guild list i reported on the second day of early start that are still in the game almost 5 months later, the terrible space combat was another gripe but trying to keep a guild motivated with the lack of endgame was too much, we dropped 75% of our original membership in the last few months, with many stating they will not be coming back.
I'd had enough myself and no longer have faith in the game or the developers anymore and cancelled.
Playing: FFXIV Future: wishing for SWG 2, World of Warcraft Classic Played: Most current and extinct MMO's - 18 Years in....
I got an email saying play for free over the weekend of the 1.2 release. The weekend was almost over when I received that email. Then another saying if I subscribed I would receive 30 days free, giving me something like 14hrs to the deadline to make up my mind before that offer expired. While I appreciate receiving stuff to entice me back, it really needs to go out well before the weekend starts and the extra month offer should also have given me plenty time to consider.
Not exactly confidence inspiring or a great way to hook me back into subscribing. I passed.
I typed SWTOR into google and they gave me a months free time, now they won't let me go, if anyone reads this please can they call the police, I am being held somewhere in a large facility in Austin Texas with what I estimate to be 1.69m others.
Comments
legacy level 6 was better than saying you had to be 50 but what would have made more sense would have been to realize that any customer who has been subbed continuously since the beginning regardless of how far they have gotten might be a valued customer. I am playing the game pretty casually right now with a friend. I don't play when he doesn't play because I really don't have much motivation to play another class than the one I play with him and I don't want that character to out level him. He can only play once or twice in a week because of family commitments. So the result is that we have only just made it to Alderaan. Neither of us have finished the first chapter. Both of use have been subbed since day one. Both of us have been classified as not as valuable appearently. Why? because we are enjoying the game at too leisurely a pace. This doesn't exactly encourage me to continue being a loyal supporter of the game. Good news is that my buddy decided to preorder GW2 with me so we probably wont be putting up with biofail indefinitly.
All die, so die well.
There's a big difference between, "Wanting everything now" and, "Some of the most basic gameplay elements, many of which are actually very critical to player enjoyment, being gated off". Having unlockable races is a bit silly.
Why should I be forced to either re-play my prefered class after I've unlocked the race I would rather play, or why should I be forced to level up a class I'm not that interested in so that I can play as my prefered race? I'm all for unlocking additional things like appearences ect., but these are things that should be applied to all your characters once you've worked hard to unlock them, not something you need to go back and start over to take advantage of.
Honestly I think allowing players to unlock the other races (especially things like the sith races playing as republic) is extremely strange. While I'm no lore junky, it seems pretty counter-intuitive from my decent knowledge of Star Wars (I've seen the movies, except Episode 2/3, and have learned my fair share of stuff about the movies outside of that. None of the expanded universe stuff though).
I don't think Bioware ever really wanted to make a MMORPG in the first place. This smells of something EA insisted on, given their penchant for creating games with a heavy dependence on an internet connection. SWTOR suffers from a bad case of the "good-enoughs". There's no other explanation for a release with most of the content on rails and so many glaring mistakes that would never have passed muster with any responsible developer. The fingerprints of the developers of Warhammer: Age of Reckoning are painfully obvious here.
EA is proving to be the Kiss of Death for any MMO they touch.
"Soloists and those who prefer small groups should never have to feel like they''re the ones getting the proverbial table scraps, as it were." - Scott Hartsman, Senior Producer, Everquest II
"People love groups. Its a fallacy that people want to play solo all the time." - Scott Hartsman, Executive Producer, Rift
Finnally some good unbias work by MMORPG.com
Thumbs up guys!!
This is all fine and dandy BUT you have absolutely no way outside of boring repeatable garbage (dailies), repeatable fp's (or op's if you're lucky), or play the GTN. This is what most ppl complain about, that and the fact that plenty of the legacy stuff is mostly useless (GTN is linked only the neutral one, rocket boots is treated as a vehicle so it's useless where it should work mainly anywhere where sprint works, etc,)
If BW can add activities that are fun to do (mini-games anyone?) , and useful legacy stuff (maybe 1.3) ppl would not complain that much about the prices.
As for the other items on the post, was really nailed on.
Yes. I just watched one two or three days ago.
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club
I enjoy a good speculation like many others, but please ...
Bioware announced their MMORPG studio Bioware Austin and that they already had begun development in March 2006 (http://www.gamespot.com/news/bioware-unveils-texas-mmorpg-studio-6145813), EA acquired Bioware in October 2007, about 1 1/2 years after Bioware had openend their MMORPG studio.
Yet you think that EA forced Bioware to make an MMORPG ...
I maintain this List of Sandbox MMORPGs. Please post or send PM for corrections and suggestions.
I would be more impressed if they had not written 60+ overly postitve previews, articles, features, and "news items" that almost to a one, over accentuate the positive and minimize or ignore the negative aspects/features of this game, of which a good many were obvious.
That there have been exactly two negative items on this site (not counting the guy they fired that was also giving TOR an unfavorable review)
This site has been a strong proponent/supporter of this game almost from the beginning, one has to wonder why....
And the articles are all there for people to look up, should they be so inclined....
OMG, MMORPG.COM said something negative about SWTOR. *looks up for flying pigs*
Cluck Cluck, Gibber Gibber, My Old Mans A Mushroom
It is nice to see some fair balance. I do think that it was mostly promted by the large outcry in the forums here, but Kudos to MMORPG.com & Mike B.for listening to what everyone had to say!
So i just don't get why people only like the negative articles. I love tor. Ill say it now , i Have a blast playing it , I love the stories, That said it does have some issues , I dont mind the pandemic being over as i didnt participate, i never do in this kinda stuff in games.
That said since i pefer to level alts in tor to end game i dont care about armor set looks. Not really. I do have an issue witn price of legacy unlocks as i dont have that much credits even on my 50
I think the part with rewarding players with 30 days game time, It should of been based on how long u had an active account not on what level a character u have or legacy level but thats me. I have a 50 and legacy level 6 so i get 30 days free , my gf doesnt even though has subbed since day 1 so she wont get it.
I think anyone who has subbed to tor from day 1 should get 30 days free but thats me.
Well thanks for some balance on this one, Mr Bitton.
If any adjective can be used to describe the way Bioware handled this patch, (and in fact the rest of the game as well) I think "Inept" fits pretty well. I have to admit I'm starting to feel bad about continually bad-mouthing the SWTOR tech team as with every new screw up it is starting to feel like bullying a mentally handicapped person. It really seems that this is the best that they can do and to continue to expect better of them is monsterously unfair.
I watched my house mate's rekindled interest in the game from the Legacy system (and the free month) turn to utter scorn in the pace of a few short days when they relized that if they wanted to try the legacy system with other players they would first have to re-roll on actually populated servers and start completely over. And then saw just how much grind would be involved on top of just regrinding their toons and trade skills. They have already re-abandonded the game and gone back to their stand by games until some of the new MMOs come out later this year.
"Gypsies, tramps, and thieves, we were called by the Admin of the site . . . "
Michael, just a heads up that BioWare did alter their initial stance on who was deserving of the free 30 days.
I also wrote an article about BioWare's catastrophic promotion if anyone would like to read it:
http://sorcsandsabers.com/games/star-wars-the-old-republic/swtor-bioware-tells-some-subscribersthese-arent-the-loyal-players-were-looking-for/
While I do feel that BioWare did the right thing by expanding the legacy promotion, it was indeed the case of too little, too late. By that time they had already pissed off too many of their long-term subscribers. I know that initially, as someone that had purchased a 6-month sub but lacked a level 50 character, I was none too pleased. Unfortunately, I simply don't have as much time to play as most, yet I still pay the same price as someone that does.
Two of my friends decided that the promotion was the final straw and have now left. Those in our guild that were still remaining are all gone. If the three guilds I've been connected to are any indication, to say SWTOR is bleeding subs is an understatment.
IMHO, the game while lacking content, itsn't that bad. However, BioWare/EA sure appear to have a knack toward sabotaging SWTOR's long-term success.
New Armor Sets -- Quite hideous, as expected. Fortunately this game allows players to upgrade the lower-level (and VASTLY better-looking) armor sets, so it didn't matter.
Ranked Warzones -- I have NO interest in warzones, so this feature/change was completely irrelevant to me.
Legacy Unlock Costs -- Here again, this was like raising the cost of Porsches. It's too bad, I guess, but it's all far above my "pay grade" in this game and thus a nonissue.
Rakghoul Pandemic -- All this amounted to, for me, was occasionally getting infected while at the Imperial Fleet/Republic Fleet. It all seemed less like an "event" and more like a big, pointless, mildly annoying "non-event" to me.
Legacy Promotion -- Oh, my gosh. I completely agree with the OP on this. What an idiotic, bone-headed implementation. Are the Bioware folks absolutely clueless? Seriously, to single out the power levelers as your "favorites" and then, by default, slap the multiple-alt players in the face, even though both types of players playing just as long and as much and are just as loyal, was epically stupid, imo. As the OP stated, it is mind-boggling that NO ONE at Bioware realized how offensive this selective reward. Un-freaking-believable.
Waiting for:EQ-Next, ArcheAge (not so much anymore)
Now Playing: N/A
Worst MMO: FFXIV
Favorite MMO: FFXI
EA BW values active players that fill servers as well as pay their bills. They did miss an opportunity. Nothing draws a crowd like free stuff & The Legacy Promotion should have given the free stuff to as many players as possible. The problem that they were trying to deal with, are paying players who don’t show up to play. This makes the game worlds look empty, and new players don’t stay long. The promotions should have given players free time, for time spent actively playing the game and filling up the servers. Say 1 day of free time for every 8 hour played in prime time, over thirty days for a Max of 30 days. Some would get 30 days, other less. But the servers would be full of people trying to earn that free time making the game look more active.
Boy: Why can't I talk to Him?
Mom: We don't talk to Priests.
As if it could exist, without being payed for.
F2P means you get what you paid for. Pay nothing, get nothing.
Even telemarketers wouldn't think that.
It costs money to play. Therefore P2W.
Nope. I just write whatever I feel like writing. This isn't the first or last critical article I've written about TOR in the 2+ years I've been writing about the game. I just thought that since I highlighted some of the better aspects of the update it would be fun to also discuss the worst bits.
I got an email saying play for free over the weekend of the 1.2 release. The weekend was almost over when I received that email. Then another saying if I subscribed I would receive 30 days free, giving me something like 14hrs to the deadline to make up my mind before that offer expired. While I appreciate receiving stuff to entice me back, it really needs to go out well before the weekend starts and the extra month offer should also have given me plenty time to consider.
Not exactly confidence inspiring or a great way to hook me back into subscribing. I passed.
Decent write-up, but for the life of me, I don't see how the crafting changes for custom items didn't make the list. Most were expecting to be able to "level up" the schematics they purchased from their crew skill trainer to orange quality, and have the ability to reverse engineer looted orange items for the chance to learn the schematic, neither of which happened.
There were misleading statements made by Devs early on in the testing of update 1.2 that led to this confusion. Though the devs later clarified those statements, many did not get the memo, and were pretty upset with the system that was implemented. Many people are upset because there are many items that people would like to use for their appearance, but those items do not have orange quality schematics. Many of the low level gear sets for jedi/sith characters have no orange schematics for gloves or boots.
Overall, this dissapointed a lot of players, and definitely should have been on the list, and fairly high on it.
Bick
Yuppers! As a high crafter in several fields, the mention of what was is not as it is now...
Bick
Nice write up, i waited for this game since the secret project announcement and had a guild ready just for this game over the last 3 years and paid a shed load of coins out for the CE edition(waste of money), in the last week ive quit both.
Its just the lack of bug fixing that griped me more personally, 5 bugs with the guild list i reported on the second day of early start that are still in the game almost 5 months later, the terrible space combat was another gripe but trying to keep a guild motivated with the lack of endgame was too much, we dropped 75% of our original membership in the last few months, with many stating they will not be coming back.
I'd had enough myself and no longer have faith in the game or the developers anymore and cancelled.
Playing: FFXIV
Future: wishing for SWG 2, World of Warcraft Classic
Played: Most current and extinct MMO's - 18 Years in....
Interesting Fact - I own 27 Tarantula's
I typed SWTOR into google and they gave me a months free time, now they won't let me go, if anyone reads this please can they call the police, I am being held somewhere in a large facility in Austin Texas with what I estimate to be 1.69m others.