The further dumbing down of Star Wars: The Old Republic: Abusing Travelers, Treating customers like

Karteli · February 2013

To combat the horrible load times, developers have stepped in to fix all your worries .. with a minimal fee.

Priority Transport

Feb 12, 2013

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=5847876

Hi everyone,

With Game Update 1.7, we introduced the new Legacy Character Perk, Priority Transport: Personal Starship. This allows players to quickly shuttle to their personal starships. This ability normally has a 24 hr cooldown, and players have the option to purchase Legacy Global Unlocks to reduce this cooldown.

So EA has realized that their game / graphics engine is horrible and they now need a way to get players across zones without all the load screens (if you have money). So now you can insta-teleport to your ship. GREAT FIX. I feel my immersion steaming ..

ARE YOU KIDDING ME, EA? Oh my. I can now improve flaws in the game by spending real money. I .. am .. without any further words, I just don't know what else to say. Cartel Market ;( =(

Sovrath · February 2013

I don't think it has anything to do with them realzing their game engine is bad (or whatever).

I think it has to do with "some players like to get to where they want to be FAST so let's make money off of this."

Karteli · February 2013

Originally posted by Sovrath
I don't think it has anything to do with them realzing their game engine is bad (or whatever).

I think it has to do with "some players like to get to where they want to be FAST so let's make money off of this."

Zone loads can take up to several minutes though, in my experience. So if someone can eliminate the load from travel to spaceship hub to hanger to airlock to spaceship, I'd say this charge (costing $$) is abusive.

Not to mention this is the first step to paying for a teleport wherever you would like to go in the galaxy, with just 1 load screen, instead of 5.

AND ... the cooldown can be reduced with real-money. Real-money is a big no-no. SWTOR is advertised as a F2P game, but presented in the last investor call as a P2P? EA is walking on thin ice, and fans will see through the thin ice and not go near them.

Paying for basic functionality in a F2P is not cool.

huskie77 · February 2013

I can understand your frustration but I think you are twisting your view of this update to suit your already deeply held views on this game. Real money is not a no-no. It's what allows them to provide a service to those who desire it in exchange for the revenue that allows them to make enough profit to everyone employed and let free players leech. Everything serves a purpose and nobody get's hurt.

AG-Vuk · February 2013

Originally posted by Karteli
Originally posted by Sovrath
I don't think it has anything to do with them realzing their game engine is bad (or whatever).

I think it has to do with "some players like to get to where they want to be FAST so let's make money off of this."

Zone loads can take up to several minutes though, in my experience. So if someone can eliminate the load from travel to spaceship hub to hanger to airlock to spaceship, I'd say this charge is abusive.

Not to mention this is the first step to paying for a teleport wherever you would like to go in the galaxy, with just 1 load screen, instead of 5.

AND ... the cooldown can be reduced with real-money. Real-money is a big no-no. SWTOR is advertised as a F2P game, but presented in the last investor call as a P2P? EA is walking on thin ice, and fans will see through the thin ice and not go near them.

Paying for basic functionality in a F2P is not cool.

Sovrath is coorect imo. Before some of the current shortcuts were instituted. It was an actual pain in the arse to travel to say fleet to Belsavais. Zone to the docks, where your ship is, zone to your ship, zone onto your ship , zone into space , zone onto a space station at belsavais , zone to the transport deck on the station , zone to Belsavais. It was lenghty and tiresome. It was bad design on the Devs part and completely unneccessary. Instead of fixing the bad design they are implementing a work around and profiting from it. Little to do with the engine and more to do with bad game design and profitiblity.

Slappy1 · February 2013

Originally posted by huskie77
I can understand your frustration but I think you are twisting your view of this update to suit your already deeply held views on this game. Real money is not a no-no. It's what allows them to provide a service to those who desire it in exchange for the revenue that allows them to make enough profit to everyone employed and let free players leech. Everything serves a purpose and nobody get's hurt.

Agree^^ and also I've never experienced a load screen anywhere near minute's in length.Load time's are comparable to to many I saw in other game's.

It's a convenience,not a gamebreaking must buy.

Psychow · February 2013

If the game is so bad and the company is so evil, why are you playing it?

Karteli · February 2013

Originally posted by Slappy1
Originally posted by huskie77
I can understand your frustration but I think you are twisting your view of this update to suit your already deeply held views on this game. Real money is not a no-no. It's what allows them to provide a service to those who desire it in exchange for the revenue that allows them to make enough profit to everyone employed and let free players leech. Everything serves a purpose and nobody get's hurt.

Agree^^ and also I've never experienced a load screen anywhere near minute's in length.Load time's are comparable to to many I saw in other game's.

It's a convenience,not a gamebreaking must buy.

I'd rather have a seemless Star Wars universe .. you know, worthy of Star Wars? and all the innovation that comes with the title ...

Load screens were great in EverQuest .. but that was 1999. Now we pay to avoid load screens, see whats wrong?

huskie77 · February 2013

Originally posted by Slappy1
Originally posted by huskie77
I can understand your frustration but I think you are twisting your view of this update to suit your already deeply held views on this game. Real money is not a no-no. It's what allows them to provide a service to those who desire it in exchange for the revenue that allows them to make enough profit to everyone employed and let free players leech. Everything serves a purpose and nobody get's hurt.

Agree^^ and also I've never experienced a load screen anywhere near minute's in length.Load time's are comparable to to many I saw in other game's.

It's a convenience,not a gamebreaking must buy.

The OP has complained in other EA, SWTOR and Hero engine threads about the "terrible" graphics engine and it's performance issues. I think it might be a compatibility issue for him/her as I have never experienced any such issues other than launch weekend. I however, cannot defend the game as being without design flaws. That being said, I can and do still enjoy the game for what it does right and lament it for what it failed to achieve.

KaiserPhoenix · February 2013

op, your overdramatization needs to end. This is a convenience feature, not a pay to win one. Please get over it.

Karteli · February 2013

Originally posted by huskie77
Originally posted by Slappy1
Originally posted by huskie77
I can understand your frustration but I think you are twisting your view of this update to suit your already deeply held views on this game. Real money is not a no-no. It's what allows them to provide a service to those who desire it in exchange for the revenue that allows them to make enough profit to everyone employed and let free players leech. Everything serves a purpose and nobody get's hurt.

Agree^^ and also I've never experienced a load screen anywhere near minute's in length.Load time's are comparable to to many I saw in other game's.

It's a convenience,not a gamebreaking must buy.

The OP has complained in other EA, SWTOR and Hero engine threads about the "terrible" graphics engine and it's performance issues. I think it might be a compatibility issue for him/her as I have never experienced any such issues other than launch weekend. I however, cannot defend the game as being without design flaws. That being said, I can and do still enjoy the game for what it does right and lament it for what it failed to achieve.

I also applauded SWTOR in other threads, so get it straight.

huskie77 · February 2013

Originally posted by Karteli
Originally posted by huskie77
Originally posted by Slappy1
Originally posted by huskie77
I can understand your frustration but I think you are twisting your view of this update to suit your already deeply held views on this game. Real money is not a no-no. It's what allows them to provide a service to those who desire it in exchange for the revenue that allows them to make enough profit to everyone employed and let free players leech. Everything serves a purpose and nobody get's hurt.

Agree^^ and also I've never experienced a load screen anywhere near minute's in length.Load time's are comparable to to many I saw in other game's.

It's a convenience,not a gamebreaking must buy.

The OP has complained in other EA, SWTOR and Hero engine threads about the "terrible" graphics engine and it's performance issues. I think it might be a compatibility issue for him/her as I have never experienced any such issues other than launch weekend. I however, cannot defend the game as being without design flaws. That being said, I can and do still enjoy the game for what it does right and lament it for what it failed to achieve.

I also applauded SWTOR in other threads, so get it straight.

You may also have had a fish sandwich for lunch but it had no relevant bearing on the conversation so I also omitted it.

Karteli · February 2013

Originally posted by huskie77
Originally posted by Karteli
Originally posted by huskie77
Originally posted by Slappy1
Originally posted by huskie77
I can understand your frustration but I think you are twisting your view of this update to suit your already deeply held views on this game. Real money is not a no-no. It's what allows them to provide a service to those who desire it in exchange for the revenue that allows them to make enough profit to everyone employed and let free players leech. Everything serves a purpose and nobody get's hurt.

Agree^^ and also I've never experienced a load screen anywhere near minute's in length.Load time's are comparable to to many I saw in other game's.

It's a convenience,not a gamebreaking must buy.

The OP has complained in other EA, SWTOR and Hero engine threads about the "terrible" graphics engine and it's performance issues. I think it might be a compatibility issue for him/her as I have never experienced any such issues other than launch weekend. I however, cannot defend the game as being without design flaws. That being said, I can and do still enjoy the game for what it does right and lament it for what it failed to achieve.

I also applauded SWTOR in other threads, so get it straight.

You may also have had a fish sandwich for lunch but it had no relevant bearing on the conversation so I also omitted it.

Your argument, this, and the last one was an Ad Hominem (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ad+hominem), essentially having an argument so weak that you have to attack the poster, instead of the content of the original post.

Essentially, that which you wrote, is senseless to the original post. It won't sway anyones opinion. It doesn't address any points.

--

EA's position is awful towards a correction on the graphics engine / load times. Pay money to fix load times! Horrible!

I wish they would charge money to make open world PVP happen again, you know, with more than 16 people on screen at once .. I'd pay a buck or two extra a month just to have that !!

huskie77 · February 2013

Originally posted by Karteli
Originally posted by huskie77
Originally posted by Karteli
Originally posted by huskie77
Originally posted by Slappy1
Originally posted by huskie77
I can understand your frustration but I think you are twisting your view of this update to suit your already deeply held views on this game. Real money is not a no-no. It's what allows them to provide a service to those who desire it in exchange for the revenue that allows them to make enough profit to everyone employed and let free players leech. Everything serves a purpose and nobody get's hurt.

Agree^^ and also I've never experienced a load screen anywhere near minute's in length.Load time's are comparable to to many I saw in other game's.

It's a convenience,not a gamebreaking must buy.

The OP has complained in other EA, SWTOR and Hero engine threads about the "terrible" graphics engine and it's performance issues. I think it might be a compatibility issue for him/her as I have never experienced any such issues other than launch weekend. I however, cannot defend the game as being without design flaws. That being said, I can and do still enjoy the game for what it does right and lament it for what it failed to achieve.

I also applauded SWTOR in other threads, so get it straight.

You may also have had a fish sandwich for lunch but it had no relevant bearing on the conversation so I also omitted it.

Your argument, this, and the last one was an Ad Hominem, essentially having an argument so weak that you have to attack the poster, instead of the content of the original post.

Essentially, they are useless to the original post. They won't sway anyones opinion.

I am sorry you feel that way, as it was not my intention and I think if you review the definition and my statements you will see that I made no such aggressive action, actively, or passively. I expressed my disagreement with your original statement, which you chose not to respond to in defense of your position. That is entirely your prerogative but please do not try to claim that I made any such attacks on you.

Once again, I believe that you misconstrued the intent of the new features on offer from SWTOR. I do not share your view that it is in any way a bad thing, or evidence of problems with their graphic engine. I believe you have a grudge against EA and SWTOR at the moment(regardless of any past praise you have made) and that your feelings have caused your view to become skewed. We don't have to agree, but let's be civil and not accuse one another of making attacks please.

There is enough false reporting one this site, let's not add to it.

________________________________________________

In response to your edit:

I have seen nothing from EA to indicate that this is to reduce load times or graphical issues. It is a convenience feature to reduce the overall time required to get back to your ship with as few zones between as possible. Granted, it clearly indicates some design issues, but once again you are harping on this issue of graphic engine that simply does not appear to be the case THIS TIME.

Tsumoro · February 2013

To the people defending SWTOR on this one, don't kid yourselves on it. Instancing might be a very very conveinant means for a developer to apply content, but excessive use of it breaks immersion.

A planet, is pretty much a zone in terms of scale when compared to other MMO's. So, why in other games can I go between many many zones without any interruptions when compared to SWTOR moving planet to planet has has so many unneccesary interruptions. They don't even do anything from an RP persepective either, they do not add anything to the game its only to mask a very lazy approach to how they've linked it all together.

So it would be reasonable to be insulted by the notion that because they know its frustrating to go through all that transition time that the solution is to capitalise on it. Pretty much the community is saying 'this isn't very fun and immersive' and they turn around and say 'we will fix that for you. But at a price'.

They say in their videos that they listen to community feed back, but I honest to god feel like the only things they are looking out for is the stuff people say are problems then charging for fixes around them. I literally feel like they wish to treat me as a cow whose udders they aggressively milk.

For me, I have a good PC so the load times aren't a great deal, more to do with a pain in the ass and boring to go through so much hassle to move about the place. However if you don't have a top range pc and you are playing on the lowest settings and the load times are taking you 5 mins each time then it can really feel like you are being pressured by the developers to buy into these tools in order to get any sort of consistant enjoyment.

huskie77 · February 2013

Originally posted by Tsumoro
To the people defending SWTOR on this one, don't kid yourselves on it. Instancing might be a very very conveinant means for a developer to apply content, but excessive use of it breaks immersion.

A planet, is pretty much a zone in terms of scale when compared to other MMO's. So, why in other games can I go between many many zones without any interruptions when compared to SWTOR moving planet to planet has has so many unneccesary interruptions. They don't even do anything from an RP persepective either, they do not add anything to the game its only to mask a very lazy approach to how they've linked it all together.

So it would be reasonable to be insulted by the notion that because they know its frustrating to go through all that transition time that the solution is to capitalise on it. Pretty much the community is saying 'this isn't very fun and immersive' and they turn around and say 'we will fix that for you. But at a price'.

They say in their videos that they listen to community feed back, but I honest to god feel like the only things they are looking out for is the stuff people say are problems then charging for fixes around them. I literally feel like they wish to treat me as a cow whose udders they aggressively milk.

For me, I have a good PC so the load times aren't a great deal, more to do with a pain in the ass and boring to go through so much hassle to move about the place. However if you don't have a top range pc and you are playing on the lowest settings and the load times are taking you 5 mins each time then it can really feel like you are being pressured by the developers to buy into these tools in order to get any sort of consistant enjoyment.

I agree and I don't think anyone is defending SWTOR's use of zones. I further agree that with a current PC the loads aren't a big deal, but it certainly is annoying to have to hop zones to get to your ship. However, they are allowing everyone to use the new shuttle feature once a day for free, and they are selling upgrades that reduce the cooldown. It seems like a feature that is already in games like Rift, but they are taking advantage of people by making it such a long cooldown unless you pay. We still do not know how bad it will be though.

ignore_me · February 2013

I often thought you should be able to port to your ship. It shows you waiting for a shuttle, why wouldn't it be capable of taking you to your starship? The Pay feature aspect of this is par for the course though, no one should be surprised at this point.

huskie77 · February 2013

I too would love that feature and don't understand why it wasn't in from the beginning.

Karteli · February 2013

Well to your complaaints, I see what you said, before you edited it.

Originally posted by huskie77

The OP has complained in other EA, SWTOR and Hero engine threads about the "terrible" graphics engine and it's performance issues. I think it might be a compatibility issue for him/her as I have never experienced any such issue

That was enough cause for a response.

Swanea · February 2013

Great. And since you CAN'T purchase it with your legacy.....

Wait you can!?

I know you love to hate this game, but good lord...

Karteli · February 2013

Originally posted by huskie77

The OP has complained in other EA, SWTOR and Hero engine threads about the "terrible" graphics engine and it's performance issues. I think it might be a compatibility issue for him/her as I have never experienced any such issue

That was enough cause for a response.

Karteli · February 2013

Originally posted by Karteli

Originally posted by huskie77
The OP has complained in other EA, SWTOR and Hero engine threads about the "terrible" graphics engine and it's performance issues. I think it might be a compatibility issue for him/her as I have never experienced any such issue

That was enough cause for a response.

So, if someone is vocal in other threads, suddenly a new topic is invalid? I think not.

ps- sorry for the double response, quotation reply / copy / paste was funky.

huskie77 · February 2013

Originally posted by Karteli
Originally posted by Karteli

Originally posted by huskie77
The OP has complained in other EA, SWTOR and Hero engine threads about the "terrible" graphics engine and it's performance issues. I think it might be a compatibility issue for him/her as I have never experienced any such issue

That was enough cause for a response.

I fail to see how, as all of that is relative to understanding your motivation, and not ad hominem. Once again, I apologize if you felt that the above was an attack on you. I won't be responding to you any further in this thread as it seems you are arbitrarily taking issue and looking for a fight. I hope the new changes in the game actually work out to your benefit rather than cause you grief. Good luck to you!

VincerKaden · February 2013

On one hand, it is my observation that there is a demographic in the MMO community that has needs immediate gratification; they want to login and get to the action as fast as possible. This may be because of limited game time available to them, or maybe some are just impatient. Any game that can cater to both that demographic as well as offer alternates... well, that's just a smart business decision. I would not personally pay for it, but I can understand why a game company would get the idea to put a price tag on convenience items.

On the other hand, it's Star Wars. It's supposed to be an amazingly rich, beautiful, and exciting universe that many my age only dreamt about running around in. Pretty much every Star Wars movie involved some aspect of a journey from point A to point B, and told the tale of the adventures in between. Why would anyone want to develop or play a Star Wars game where "getting there was no fun at all".

A game company should strive to make you WANT to be in the game universe, immersed at all times and entertained at nearly every turn. I won't read any further into Bioware's decision to put a monetary value on instant travel then it just being another way to make coin. But it's my view that they were unable to deliver on creating the Star Wars universe.

They did do an excellent job creating a Star Wars amusement park ride, though. I don't mean for that to be as snarky as it sounds. But having played through the game entirely, I felt like I road through on a Star Wars ride, then got dropped off onto a treadmill at the end.

Karteli · February 2013

Originally posted by huskie77
Originally posted by Karteli
Originally posted by Karteli

Originally posted by huskie77
The OP has complained in other EA, SWTOR and Hero engine threads about the "terrible" graphics engine and it's performance issues. I think it might be a compatibility issue for him/her as I have never experienced any such issue

That was enough cause for a response.

I fail to see how, as all of that is relative to understanding your motivation, and not ad hominem. Once again, I apologize if you felt that the above was an attack on you. I won't be responding to you any further in this thread as it seems you are arbitrarily taking issue and looking for a fight. I hope the new changes in the game actually work out to your benefit rather than cause you grief. Good luck to you!

OK!

1) EA is charging for basic game play features, again.

1a) Fast teleportbetween planets will benefit all players.

1b) Payments are required for teleport,

1c) Subcribers lose out on perks, because players can pay some more to out-do them.

1d ) Freemiums lose doubly. They won't invest money because SWTOR is a Freemium / P2W system.

1e ) EA adjusts TORSTATUS figures to reflect positivity. :-)

I think I covered it all. My motivation? I play the game. Enjoy my points.

Letsinod · February 2013

Originally posted by Karteli
Originally posted by Slappy1
Originally posted by huskie77
I can understand your frustration but I think you are twisting your view of this update to suit your already deeply held views on this game. Real money is not a no-no. It's what allows them to provide a service to those who desire it in exchange for the revenue that allows them to make enough profit to everyone employed and let free players leech. Everything serves a purpose and nobody get's hurt.

Agree^^ and also I've never experienced a load screen anywhere near minute's in length.Load time's are comparable to to many I saw in other game's.

It's a convenience,not a gamebreaking must buy.

I'd rather have a seemless Star Wars universe .. you know, worthy of Star Wars? and all the innovation that comes with the title ...

Load screens were great in EverQuest .. but that was 1999. Now we pay to avoid load screens, see whats wrong?

Wait a minute. Load screens are so 1999? I thought that GOY GW2 that everyone loves so much has many of them? I heard that it evolutionary?

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The further dumbing down of Star Wars: The Old Republic: Abusing Travelers, Treating customers like

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The further dumbing down of Star Wars: The Old Republic: Abusing Travelers, Treating customers like

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