So, SWTOR has been out for a little bit now, and as I look to the threads leading up to the launch, I have to laugh at some of the 'monumental' issues that were going to spell the doom for SWTOR. Also some of the huge debates on things that seems all important before launch.
Reasonable people never claimed your list of issues would spell the doom of SWTOR.
4 Man parties - Another hot topic back in the day. How were you going to be able to succeed with difficult quests with only 4 members? The horror. Well, I guess the deveopers thought about that one and designed the quests to take that into account. There are no real issues here. I would even go so far as to say that the group quests tend to be a bit too easy, and I hope they toughen'em up a bit.
I never heard that argument, but I'll give you one they aren't prepared for. They will eventually release a Flashpoint finder system and once they do they will have far worse issues than WOW. 1 healer, 1 tank and only two dps. If they had learned from WOW they would have made flashpoints for 6 people with the knowledge that there aren't enough willing tanks/healers to go around.
Zoned V. Seemless - No one can argue that the world is Zoned. However, in many instances, it is a semantic to a certain extent. For example, to go from one planet to another one is accomplished by zoning. However, since its a different planet, whether it's seemless or not doesn't really make a difference. It's not like the inbetween has anything. If the game had a bigger space element, it would be different. However, as it stands, a zoned planet is just as good as a seemless world for the moment. There are other zoning areas that are a bit more intrusive, so this was one debate that had some teeth to it IMO.
Getting to your ship from the planet and vice versa uses unecessary zones and loading screens. Sharding planets into multiple zones makes things worse from a multiplayer point of view.
Lack of character classes - Early, on, some people were focused on the lack of classes. This issue seems to diminish as more information was given about the sub-classess. I think there is a good mix right now. I'm sure more will be developed as time passes.
I think the bigger issue is that they mirrored their classes and the republic version of some have extra combat delay.
Anyway... this game is something to hold me over till GW2. Hopefully the fun lasts that long.
This statement right here... This explains what MMO's are now.. They are stepping stones..
You only play one until another comes out.. No such thing as real retention anymore..
They spent years on this game.. Lots of money as well.. And for some, it was nothing more than to "hold them over" till the next MMO releases.. Sometimes thats 3 months.. Sometimes 6...
Nothing they could have ever done to keep those players.. So imo, all the number crunching pre-launch was false and probably will be for every P2P released in the future..
As for the game itself, it will survive, as Rift does.. A modest but loyal fanbase, and I think that's pretty healthy for an MMO these days..
OP I totally agree with you. I said over a year ago that the more negativity I saw in these forums, the more likely the game was to be a success. So far, based on what I see, I was right. Despite claims here, I see basically no downward spiral after the free month in people in each zone or on the fleet, have no problems finding groups, have hold times of like 2 minutes for a PVP scenario, the guild continues to grow, and Im enjoying myself. Can the game improve, absolutely, which it will.
So, SWTOR has been out for a little bit now, and as I look to the threads leading up to the launch, I have to laugh at some of the 'monumental' issues that were going to spell the doom for SWTOR. Also some of the huge debates on things that seems all important before launch.
Reasonable people never claimed your list of issues would spell the doom of SWTOR.
4 Man parties - Another hot topic back in the day. How were you going to be able to succeed with difficult quests with only 4 members? The horror. Well, I guess the deveopers thought about that one and designed the quests to take that into account. There are no real issues here. I would even go so far as to say that the group quests tend to be a bit too easy, and I hope they toughen'em up a bit.
I never heard that argument, but I'll give you one they aren't prepared for. They will eventually release a Flashpoint finder system and once they do they will have far worse issues than WOW. 1 healer, 1 tank and only two dps. If they had learned from WOW they would have made flashpoints for 6 people with the knowledge that there aren't enough willing tanks/healers to go around.
Zoned V. Seemless - No one can argue that the world is Zoned. However, in many instances, it is a semantic to a certain extent. For example, to go from one planet to another one is accomplished by zoning. However, since its a different planet, whether it's seemless or not doesn't really make a difference. It's not like the inbetween has anything. If the game had a bigger space element, it would be different. However, as it stands, a zoned planet is just as good as a seemless world for the moment. There are other zoning areas that are a bit more intrusive, so this was one debate that had some teeth to it IMO.
Getting to your ship from the planet and vice versa uses unecessary zones and loading screens. Sharding planets into multiple zones makes things worse from a multiplayer point of view.
Lack of character classes - Early, on, some people were focused on the lack of classes. This issue seems to diminish as more information was given about the sub-classess. I think there is a good mix right now. I'm sure more will be developed as time passes.
I think the bigger issue is that they mirrored their classes and the republic version of some have extra combat delay.
I agree reasonable people didn't. I also probably play up the arguments a bit. It's a little more enjoyable than a thread about how many rational debattes took place.... I know I'm going to get flamed for this statement, but there it is.
Comments
This statement right here... This explains what MMO's are now.. They are stepping stones..
You only play one until another comes out.. No such thing as real retention anymore..
They spent years on this game.. Lots of money as well.. And for some, it was nothing more than to "hold them over" till the next MMO releases.. Sometimes thats 3 months.. Sometimes 6...
Nothing they could have ever done to keep those players.. So imo, all the number crunching pre-launch was false and probably will be for every P2P released in the future..
As for the game itself, it will survive, as Rift does.. A modest but loyal fanbase, and I think that's pretty healthy for an MMO these days..
OP I totally agree with you. I said over a year ago that the more negativity I saw in these forums, the more likely the game was to be a success. So far, based on what I see, I was right. Despite claims here, I see basically no downward spiral after the free month in people in each zone or on the fleet, have no problems finding groups, have hold times of like 2 minutes for a PVP scenario, the guild continues to grow, and Im enjoying myself. Can the game improve, absolutely, which it will.
There Is Always Hope!
I agree reasonable people didn't. I also probably play up the arguments a bit. It's a little more enjoyable than a thread about how many rational debattes took place.... I know I'm going to get flamed for this statement, but there it is.
I self identify as a monkey.