1)amazing crafting.Probably the best around .EQ2 and UO crafting come close but this is the champ.As for the trade aspect nothing even comes close.
2)Ability to roleplay is unlimited.
3)lovely graphics
4)Good varity of player owned cities and rides/mounts.
5)friendly community
Bad points
1)jedi.Everyone and their cousin wants one and that sort of has made it "i wanna be a jedi" game whic is sad considering how many professions there are out there.Makes the game feel like an office with everyone in the same suit.
2)A boring combat system.Not the worst by a mile but could be better.Thogh i hear its much better now
3)not enough worthwhile quests.
4)A bumpy launch with loads of duping.The economy never really recovered from that it seems.
A bumpy launch with loads of duping.The economy never really recovered from that it seems.
>>>>
This was VERY server specific. Some servers economy have been ruined by exploits and duping, other servers have been virtually untouched. Its clear that this was a very small group working on some servers, but not on many others. In general higher population servers (which tend to be low in the alphabet list) took a harder hit than servers in the middle or end of the list.
SWG is not interesting enough anymore to the professional scammers and gold-miners ... most moved on to WoW. So this is much less of a problem than one year ago.
What about the bot's? when i tried the game I only got a week in before i got lonely and fed up with no REAL people around, felt like a MRPG(Massive RPG) not online, is this handlded, or is 9 out of 10 people still a bot?
I too am glad to hear these good things about SWG.
I played from Beta to 6 months into it, it was my friends that kept me going. I still think SWG is one of the best looking MMO's out there. The last time i logged in it was depressing, I had left my character in a player city. I came back to a few factories in the middle of nowhere.
I hope things are looking up for SWG, I just might have to return!
It's produced by SOE. That in itself sets the tone for failure.
It was by all accounts one of the buggiest and incomplete releases to date and still suffers from many flaws.
In the hands of a competent and caring producer, it could have been great.
"We feel gold selling and websites that promote it damage games like Vanguard and will do everything possible to combat it." Brad McQuaid Chairman & CEO, Sigil Games Online, Inc. Executive Producer, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes www.vanguardsoh
Well i was trying out ryzom, whe i suddenly discovered that in order to go from the trial to p2p, you had to disburse 29.95, which techically only gave you 15 days or playtime... So i decided to give SWG a go. I have to admit i've heard many people say negative things about SWG, that they didnt like it, that it wasnt "star wars-like". Well im just starting off, but I really like the game, and the gameplay - so heres a question to all your naysayers; what is wrong with SWG? Why didnt you like it? Its got an open skill system (I hate limitting class-systems with a passion), ok quests and mostimportantly - placer cities and housing!
You like SWG? NICE! Enjoy it.
Why in the world after deciding you like SWG, do you now need to know why 2 people at this site dislike SWG? Most of the naysayers have not even played SWG, or only played it in beta, or have not played it within the past 2 months.
ONLY someone who has played SWG within the past 2 months is in position to comment on how the game currently is.
(The 10 others at this site who used to dislike SWG, now say they loooove SWG LOL!)
For more specific discussion about SWG, you are better off posting and reading the SWG forums at this site.)
It's produced by SOE. That in itself sets the tone for failure.
Lets see, so you are claiming anything made by SOE is a failure?
EQ - peaked at over 420,000 accounts. Currently has a solid 200,000 accounts.
PS - peaked at roughly 65,000 accounts. Currently has roughly 50,000 accounts.
SWG - peaked at roughly 330,000 accounts. Currently has a solid 200,000 accounts.
EQ2 - peaked at roughly 300,000 accounts. Currently has a solid 300,000 accounts.
Every single game made by SOE has not failed, become vaporware, or ever got discontinued due to "failing". So what you said is 100% FALSE.
It was by all accounts one of the buggiest and incomplete releases to date and still suffers from many flaws.
Please post links to these "accounts" you claim said SWG was wone of the buggiest and incomplete releases to date. Please post what flaws SWG "still suffers" from?
Day 1 SWG released, it was 100% unplayable because too many players were trying to login at the same time. Day 2 of SWG's release to 4 months after release, every single server was 100% filled to maximum. Now why would every server be 100% full if as you claim, SWG "was by all accounts one of the buggiest and incomplete releases to date"? It would be impossible for all those players to be playing if the game was unplayable. Obviously you are going by what you claim you "heard" from other people. You were not playing SWG when it released. And yes... I was and did. I even have screenshots to proove it. (I will included the links later in my sig.)
So again, what you say is 100% FALSE.
In the hands of a competent and caring producer, it could have been great.
SWG peaked at over 330,000 accounts. Right now it has a solid 200,000 accounts. The current standard for a modern MMORPG to have a chance in heaven or hell of re-couping its investment money is needing to have a minimum of 50,000 accounts. Having 100,000 accounts means a MMORPG is on track to re-coup its investment money in 1 year after release. 5 years is the intended shelf life of a MMORPG. Thus 100,000 accounts is considered a hit MMORPG. More than 100,000 accounts is a runaway hit.
SWG has proven that it is not a case of "could have been great". SWG is not only great, it is a hit, a success, a runaway hit, a runaway success. So once more, what you claim is 100% FALSE.
----------------------------
Could it have been even more successful? Yes. The bad way Jedi were implimented stopped it from growing past 330k accounts.
You have shown that you have not played SWG within the past 2 months. You are in no position to make any comments on how SWG currently is.
Subscription rates may show a financial success, but liking/disliking of a product and it's producer's overall game philosophies is a subjective opinion of failure, which is what I am speaking of. Personal opinions can never be false, since they apply to the individual.
As an esteemed veteran of these forums once told me, go do your own research.
I and most other gamers won't play a game after everything has been fixed, if we experienced all the problems it had upon release. This is why I won't try EvE online again, which by all accounts was a piece of crap when released and still suffers from some original design flaws.
It's very important for gaming companies to release a finished product, that's what beta testing is for.
I never played AO but heard horror stories of how millions of credits were being scammed thru some bug or design flaw initially. I have no interest in playing a game that does not offer an equal playing field. I expect game designers to be proactive in stopping cheating, duping, hacking, etc and to make sufficiant resources available for squashing these activities when made aware of them.
"We feel gold selling and websites that promote it damage games like Vanguard and will do everything possible to combat it." Brad McQuaid Chairman & CEO, Sigil Games Online, Inc. Executive Producer, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes www.vanguardsoh
No, failure or "failure" can be measured in 1 way and 1 way only. The way that decided if a game gets shut down, or continues running.
Subscription rates may show a financial success,
Aha! Now you are admitting SWG is a financial success. That SOE is a finanacial success. That EQ is a financial success!
but liking/disliking of a product and it's producer's overall game philosophies is a subjective opinion of failure, which is what I am speaking of. Personal opinions can never be false, since they apply to the individual.
Now you want to be more specific. You disliking a game because of your personal tastes, does not mean the game is a failure. It simply means you do not like it. In that case, you should not be posting about it. You should be busy checking out the long list of games in the menu on the left side! I do not like Britney Spears, to me she cannot sing. Does this means she is a failure? Geee she still is a multi-millionair (millionairess? LOL!) I also do not go posting on Britney Spears sites that she is a failure, or about how much I dislike her. I simply ignore her, and listen to music I like. And post on sites I like. This is the reason why many MMORPGs have a free trial, and even keep having new free trials. For people to try them out, see if they like it and subscribe..... or dislike it and move on to some other game.
As an esteemed veteran of these forums once told me, go do your own research.
Exactly. And furthermore, do up to date research. Only people who have played SWG within the past 2 months are in position to comment on how SWG currently is like. Their research is up to date.
--------------------------
Prologue: If any Britney Spears fans, or even Britney herself, are reading this, I simply dislike her music. But I do not dislike her personally. I feel netural to her personally since I have never met her. I do have a friend who accidently met her. From what he told me about how she was like, she seems like a very hardworking, but nice, and honest, person. (He accidently went through a wrong door at MTV studios in Times Square, NYC. Britney ran smack into him in a hall, almost knocking him and her over, LOL! "What are you doing here?!" she said to him. "What are you doing here?" he said back to her. LOL!)
Originally posted by Jorev Failure can be measured in several ways. Subscription rates may show a financial success, but liking/disliking of a product and it's producer's overall game philosophies is a subjective opinion of failure, which is what I am speaking of. Personal opinions can never be false, since they apply to the individual. As an esteemed veteran of these forums once told me, go do your own research. I and most other gamers won't play a game after everything has been fixed, if we experienced all the problems it had upon release. This is why I won't try EvE online again, which by all accounts was a piece of crap when released and still suffers from some original design flaws. It's very important for gaming companies to release a finished product, that's what beta testing is for. I never played AO but heard horror stories of how millions of credits were being scammed thru some bug or design flaw initially. I have no interest in playing a game that does not offer an equal playing field. I expect game designers to be proactive in stopping cheating, duping, hacking, etc and to make sufficiant resources available for squashing these activities when made aware of them.
You are currently playing an unfinished product unless you recently canned your sub to WoW. It came out incomplete and still has not been finished, just as SWG was.
- Scaris
"What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World
Originally posted by Ducky I fear Jorev wasn't around for Anarchy Online's launch.. *shudder* .. WTS: Pioneers backpack! 60 mil! lol
If I ever start paying again I have one of those!
- Scaris
"What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World
Just remember that when a mmo is released publicly it has just come out of BETA.This means it is nowhere near being finished or playable for that matter.We veterans who have stuck by SWG receive rewards for our perseverance and patience. Honestly ive tried other mmo's and they are nowhere near SWG in terms of immersion.Ive tried to like other mmo's and i just cant.Ive played a lot of them as well and they just cant compare.
Some things id like to see added to the game:
1.The ability to have a "starport" where players can park ships.
2.Id like to see a new profession along the lines of being able to "steal"an overt players ship.
3.The HUTT faction needs to implemented for sure to add to the immersion factor.
Want to ENJOY an mmo?
Dont start a guild and dont be a leader or volunteer to be coleader or captain.
Originally posted by xplororor Prologue: If any Britney Spears fans, or even Britney herself, are reading this, I simply dislike her music. But I do not dislike her personally. I feel netural to her personally since I have never met her. I do have a friend who accidently met her. From what he told me about how she was like, she seems like a very hardworking, but nice, and honest, person. (He accidently went through a wrong door at MTV studios in Times Square, NYC. Britney ran smack into him in a hall, almost knocking him and her over, LOL! "What are you doing here?!" she said to him. "What are you doing here?" he said back to her. LOL!)
Lololol, did you HAVE to use Britney Spears though??
- Scaris
"What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World
yeah, SWG seems VERY RP friendly... they really put alot of attention to the emotes and the characters...
If, for example, i type "hello!" in chat, the avatar physically salutes the player who is targeted at that moment. if you type "lol" your char will start laughing.
Someone here said that people who have bad experiences in beta or early launch rarely come back.
At least for me this is untrue: 1) Played EQ in Beta (it rocked, I stuck with it) 2) Played AO in beta release SUCKED... came back to it a year later.... AO still sucks despite what some of it's fans say. It's repetitive and boring and PVP is uninspiring to say the least. And the level system is terrible. 3) Played EVE in beta... left before beta was even finished it was so boring. Tried it a week or so into launch... hated it still... tried again last summer.... little better but still got boring after about 10 days. (glad that was a free trial). EVE has something innately wrong with it for me. 4) Played DAOC beta... had issues decided to give it a try anyway... played at launch... it was pretty good... stuck with it for a year. 5) Played in SWG Beta... it SUCKED I left before beta even started and said I'd never go back.... Fast Forward to last June: Free 14 day trial so I tried it out... guess what... it was much improved and with JTL slated to release in a couple months I went ahead and bought the game and have been playing happily ever since. The game is SOOOOOOO much different now than it was in the beginning. It's 100 times better now. Combat is fun... hell even PVE is pretty darn fun. Space Combat is fantastic and if you were EVER a fan of Tie Fighter or X-Wing you will love it. 6) Played in WOW beta... it sucked... I'll try it again if they ever have a free trial. Friends who are suffering through the first few months have said it hasn't changed much yet. No point in bothering. 7) Played EQ2 in beta.... not bad but not enough to buy it. Free trial... tried it out... it's good enough that I got an SOE All Access pass Which brings us to 8) Planetside: Beta ruled... awesome game.... release sucked, they totally re-did the xp system and combat rewards... left the game after a month. Got SOE all access pass (see above) and am now occasionally logging in to PlanetSide.... it's much better now (though BFR's need to go imo).
So, in summary: Most people who leave an MMO don't come back... unless there's a free trial or an invite to come back and check it out again.
I suspect that in May there will be a free trial and a free re-trial for old players. Once they try the new improved SWG I guarantee many will, in fact, come back.
My guild in SWG has been growing steadily.... not sure what the current subscription curve in SWG looks like but I suspect it's probably on the climb. With the last Star Wars Movie about to come out I suspect they're starting to see box sales go up again as well.
Just my opinion.
SWG: Best MMORPG on the market Skill based, not level Twitch Spaceflight Deep PVP system Player run cities and towns Best Crafting available in an MMO Best Social System in an MMO
Just flat out all around an awesome MMO. If you hated it at release you should seriously consider trying it again, especially if you're between MMO's or fed up with the one you're in. If you've never tried it it's worth picking up.
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online. Sig image Pending Still in: A couple Betas
I may give SWG a try after the combat revamp, but right now players are just flat out too powerful.
BTW, I played a CH/BE. They fixed up BEs nicely, but CHs flat out suck. And unless they find a way to force people to pick and choose between using a creature or another weapon, it will remain a balance issue (one of the problems with a skill based system).
Oh ya, and if they really do delete people's toons after six months, I almost certainly won't return.
No one ever answered whats up with the bots, i tried it about 5 months ago, and was seriously dissapointed in that lake of real players, i would be hunting in the newbie training ground with around 10-11 bots just stealing everything, is it still this bad? i would like too try it again, but there is no longer a free trial.
IF they havent done so already perhaps a few well placed ads at the movie theaters and during the previews will hep increase the awarness of the game and bring in more people.
Originally posted by Ducky No one ever answered whats up with the bots, i tried it about 5 months ago, and was seriously dissapointed in that lake of real players, i would be hunting in the newbie training ground with around 10-11 bots just stealing everything, is it still this bad? i would like too try it again, but there is no longer a free trial.
Haven't noticed many bots at all, even in noob zones.
There ARE entertainer bots but I don't mind I just don't tip AFK entertainers
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online. Sig image Pending Still in: A couple Betas
I swore that I would never play SWG because I'm not a big SW fan, and I - like most - knew that it was being rushed to capitalize on the movies. It also helped that I had a friend in beta who advised me to give it a miss for 6 months (turns out he was optimistic). As I said in the SWG forum, the collective consensus is that Blizzard gave SOE a kick up the rear and by jolly, and now the game is almost completely different from Gold release.
Even though I'm still not a big SW fan, I'm seriously considering subscribing to SWG once Rage of the Wookies is released and the new CU implemented.
Regards, Riotgirl
Edited to remove off-topic element. Riotgirl
"If you think I'm plucky and scrappy and all I need is love, you're in way over your head. I don't have a heart of gold or get nice. There are a lot nicer people coming up. We call them losers."
I and most other gamers won't play a game after everything has been fixed, if we experienced all the problems it had upon release. This is why I won't try EvE online again, which by all accounts was a piece of crap when released and still suffers from some original design flaws.
>>>>
I respect your opinion, but i dare say the "most other gamers" is probably an exageration. Although some games had a bumpy start (usually dictated by marketing people, not the developers) they improve over time. So from personal experience ... if you dont play EVE or SWG these days you simply miss 2 of the best games currently on the market - and for sure the best Sci Fi Games.
EVE has become much more diverse with the EXODUS expansion and player empires of 2000+ players each, rivaling the NPC empires in might and territory. SWG has improved more in the last 3 months than in the whole 12 months before it with the exception of the space element.
Concerning bots in SWG ... bots were a direct result of a failed choice the developers made in the way people become Jedi (commonly believed to be under pressure by Lucasarts at that time to introduce Jedi in larger numbers in the game for marketing reasons). Jedi = endless mindless grinding. To which the player base reacted by letting lots of the grinding be done in AFK bot mode.
However, 95 % of these bots are gone, because
a) The way to become Jedi has changed (interesting in the early phase, still a mindnumbing grind in the later phase) and therefore the motivation to grind 32 professions in minimum time
b) AFK fighting has been nerfed and the workarounds are limited, so most of the loot bots or combat XP bots are gone
c) Crafing on-the-keyboard is faster than with a macro
d) People HAVE usually achieved their profession goals by now and dont NEED to macro grind anymore.
You usually see some entertainer bots still or some helpful people running tumbling macros to help the people who want to improve their medic skills. But those bots are usually toons played regularily during prime time (people just keep their toons running while they are at work to help friends in their player cities who play in other time zones). And even 90 % of those remaining bots will be gone after the Combat Revamp when buffs are reduced to +10 % long term / +20 % short term buffs as compared to the current +100 % entertainer buffs.
In general
1) the macro use in SWG has a much worse reputation on forums than everything I see in game
and
2) servers are much more populated IMHO than claimed on forums. It may help that I live in an active player city on Lok and have some of my vendors in the South Coronet Market District on Corellia , a heavily populated and visited area. As everyone has freedom of choice were to live, I cannot stop people from living and adventuring in ghost towns. SWG has seen an influx of new players, especially those coming from WoW.
One final remark about roleplaying :
With the available Event Perks (100+ items you can get for your roleplaying events) roleplaying and organizing player events has never been easier in any game I played so far. You can get anything from skeletons to NPC actors, from HUGE Jawa Sandcrawlers to cantina jukeboxes with rare SW music, from capture-the-flag games to your own swooprace track (and many many more).
Comments
I had a blast for about 5 months on SWG.IMHO
good points
1)amazing crafting.Probably the best around .EQ2 and UO crafting come close but this is the champ.As for the trade aspect nothing even comes close.
2)Ability to roleplay is unlimited.
3)lovely graphics
4)Good varity of player owned cities and rides/mounts.
5)friendly community
Bad points
1)jedi.Everyone and their cousin wants one and that sort of has made it "i wanna be a jedi" game whic is sad considering how many professions there are out there.Makes the game feel like an office with everyone in the same suit.
2)A boring combat system.Not the worst by a mile but could be better.Thogh i hear its much better now
3)not enough worthwhile quests.
4)A bumpy launch with loads of duping.The economy never really recovered from that it seems.
Now if it was like kotor or kotor2 then it would kick ass
>>>>
A bumpy launch with loads of duping.The economy never really recovered from that it seems.
>>>>
This was VERY server specific. Some servers economy have been ruined by exploits and duping, other servers have been virtually untouched. Its clear that this was a very small group working on some servers, but not on many others. In general higher population servers (which tend to be low in the alphabet list) took a harder hit than servers in the middle or end of the list.
SWG is not interesting enough anymore to the professional scammers and gold-miners ... most moved on to WoW. So this is much less of a problem than one year ago.
Have fun
Erillion
I too am glad to hear these good things about SWG.
I played from Beta to 6 months into it, it was my friends that kept me going. I still think SWG is one of the best looking MMO's out there. The last time i logged in it was depressing, I had left my character in a player city. I came back to a few factories in the middle of nowhere.
I hope things are looking up for SWG, I just might have to return!
It's produced by SOE. That in itself sets the tone for failure.
It was by all accounts one of the buggiest and incomplete releases to date and still suffers from many flaws.
In the hands of a competent and caring producer, it could have been great.
"We feel gold selling and websites that promote it damage games like Vanguard and will do everything possible to combat it."
Brad McQuaid
Chairman & CEO, Sigil Games Online, Inc.
Executive Producer, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes
www.vanguardsoh
You like SWG? NICE! Enjoy it.
Why in the world after deciding you like SWG, do you now need to know why 2 people at this site dislike SWG? Most of the naysayers have not even played SWG, or only played it in beta, or have not played it within the past 2 months.
ONLY someone who has played SWG within the past 2 months is in position to comment on how the game currently is.
(The 10 others at this site who used to dislike SWG, now say they loooove SWG LOL!)
For more specific discussion about SWG, you are better off posting and reading the SWG forums at this site.)
SWG peaked at over 330,000 accounts. Right now it has a solid 200,000 accounts. The current standard for a modern MMORPG to have a chance in heaven or hell of re-couping its investment money is needing to have a minimum of 50,000 accounts. Having 100,000 accounts means a MMORPG is on track to re-coup its investment money in 1 year after release. 5 years is the intended shelf life of a MMORPG. Thus 100,000 accounts is considered a hit MMORPG. More than 100,000 accounts is a runaway hit.
SWG has proven that it is not a case of "could have been great". SWG is not only great, it is a hit, a success, a runaway hit, a runaway success. So once more, what you claim is 100% FALSE.
----------------------------
Could it have been even more successful? Yes. The bad way Jedi were implimented stopped it from growing past 330k accounts.
You have shown that you have not played SWG within the past 2 months. You are in no position to make any comments on how SWG currently is.
agreed
SWG has improved by leaps and bounds since it's first release date. If you haven't played it in awhile I would give it a shot.
People who have to create conspiracy and hate threads to further a cause lacks in intellectual comprehension of diversity.
Failure can be measured in several ways.
Subscription rates may show a financial success, but liking/disliking of a product and it's producer's overall game philosophies is a subjective opinion of failure, which is what I am speaking of. Personal opinions can never be false, since they apply to the individual.
As an esteemed veteran of these forums once told me, go do your own research.
I and most other gamers won't play a game after everything has been fixed, if we experienced all the problems it had upon release. This is why I won't try EvE online again, which by all accounts was a piece of crap when released and still suffers from some original design flaws.
It's very important for gaming companies to release a finished product, that's what beta testing is for.
I never played AO but heard horror stories of how millions of credits were being scammed thru some bug or design flaw initially. I have no interest in playing a game that does not offer an equal playing field. I expect game designers to be proactive in stopping cheating, duping, hacking, etc and to make sufficiant resources available for squashing these activities when made aware of them.
"We feel gold selling and websites that promote it damage games like Vanguard and will do everything possible to combat it."
Brad McQuaid
Chairman & CEO, Sigil Games Online, Inc.
Executive Producer, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes
www.vanguardsoh
Exactly. And furthermore, do up to date research. Only people who have played SWG within the past 2 months are in position to comment on how SWG currently is like. Their research is up to date.
--------------------------
Prologue: If any Britney Spears fans, or even Britney herself, are reading this, I simply dislike her music. But I do not dislike her personally. I feel netural to her personally since I have never met her. I do have a friend who accidently met her. From what he told me about how she was like, she seems like a very hardworking, but nice, and honest, person. (He accidently went through a wrong door at MTV studios in Times Square, NYC. Britney ran smack into him in a hall, almost knocking him and her over, LOL! "What are you doing here?!" she said to him. "What are you doing here?" he said back to her. LOL!)
You are currently playing an unfinished product unless you recently canned your sub to WoW. It came out incomplete and still has not been finished, just as SWG was.
- Scaris
"What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World
If I ever start paying again I have one of those!
- Scaris
"What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World
Just remember that when a mmo is released publicly it has just come out of BETA.This means it is nowhere near being finished or playable for that matter.We veterans who have stuck by SWG receive rewards for our perseverance and patience.
Honestly ive tried other mmo's and they are nowhere near SWG in terms of immersion.Ive tried to like other mmo's and i just cant.Ive played a lot of them as well and they just cant compare.
Some things id like to see added to the game:
1.The ability to have a "starport" where players can park ships.
2.Id like to see a new profession along the lines of being able to "steal"an overt players ship.
3.The HUTT faction needs to implemented for sure to add to the immersion factor.
Want to ENJOY an mmo?
Dont start a guild and dont be a leader or volunteer to be coleader or captain.
Just play the damn game:)
Lololol, did you HAVE to use Britney Spears though??
- Scaris
"What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World
yeah, SWG seems VERY RP friendly... they really put alot of attention to the emotes and the characters...
If, for example, i type "hello!" in chat, the avatar physically salutes the player who is targeted at that moment. if you type "lol" your char will start laughing.
and i dont play rose online (just noticed that)... my gf loves it though
Someone here said that people who have bad experiences in beta or early launch rarely come back.
At least for me this is untrue:
1) Played EQ in Beta (it rocked, I stuck with it)
2) Played AO in beta release SUCKED... came back to it a year later.... AO still sucks despite what some of it's fans say. It's repetitive and boring and PVP is uninspiring to say the least. And the level system is terrible.
3) Played EVE in beta... left before beta was even finished it was so boring. Tried it a week or so into launch... hated it still... tried again last summer.... little better but still got boring after about 10 days. (glad that was a free trial). EVE has something innately wrong with it for me.
4) Played DAOC beta... had issues decided to give it a try anyway... played at launch... it was pretty good... stuck with it for a year.
5) Played in SWG Beta... it SUCKED I left before beta even started and said I'd never go back.... Fast Forward to last June: Free 14 day trial so I tried it out... guess what... it was much improved and with JTL slated to release in a couple months I went ahead and bought the game and have been playing happily ever since. The game is SOOOOOOO much different now than it was in the beginning. It's 100 times better now. Combat is fun... hell even PVE is pretty darn fun. Space Combat is fantastic and if you were EVER a fan of Tie Fighter or X-Wing you will love it.
6) Played in WOW beta... it sucked... I'll try it again if they ever have a free trial. Friends who are suffering through the first few months have said it hasn't changed much yet. No point in bothering.
7) Played EQ2 in beta.... not bad but not enough to buy it. Free trial... tried it out... it's good enough that I got an SOE All Access pass
Which brings us to
8) Planetside: Beta ruled... awesome game.... release sucked, they totally re-did the xp system and combat rewards... left the game after a month. Got SOE all access pass (see above) and am now occasionally logging in to PlanetSide.... it's much better now (though BFR's need to go imo).
So, in summary:
Most people who leave an MMO don't come back... unless there's a free trial or an invite to come back and check it out again.
I suspect that in May there will be a free trial and a free re-trial for old players.
Once they try the new improved SWG I guarantee many will, in fact, come back.
My guild in SWG has been growing steadily.... not sure what the current subscription curve in SWG looks like but I suspect it's probably on the climb. With the last Star Wars Movie about to come out I suspect they're starting to see box sales go up again as well.
Just my opinion.
SWG: Best MMORPG on the market
Skill based, not level
Twitch Spaceflight
Deep PVP system
Player run cities and towns
Best Crafting available in an MMO
Best Social System in an MMO
Just flat out all around an awesome MMO. If you hated it at release you should seriously consider trying it again, especially if you're between MMO's or fed up with the one you're in. If you've never tried it it's worth picking up.
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online.
Sig image Pending
Still in: A couple Betas
I may give SWG a try after the combat revamp, but right now players are just flat out too powerful.
BTW, I played a CH/BE. They fixed up BEs nicely, but CHs flat out suck. And unless they find a way to force people to pick and choose between using a creature or another weapon, it will remain a balance issue (one of the problems with a skill based system).
Oh ya, and if they really do delete people's toons after six months, I almost certainly won't return.
IF they havent done so already perhaps a few well placed ads at the movie theaters and during the previews will hep increase the awarness of the game and bring in more people.
Haven't noticed many bots at all, even in noob zones.
There ARE entertainer bots but I don't mind
I just don't tip AFK entertainers 
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online.
Sig image Pending
Still in: A couple Betas
I swore that I would never play SWG because I'm not a big SW fan, and I - like most - knew that it was being rushed to capitalize on the movies. It also helped that I had a friend in beta who advised me to give it a miss for 6 months (turns out he was optimistic). As I said in the SWG forum, the collective consensus is that Blizzard gave SOE a kick up the rear and by jolly, and now the game is almost completely different from Gold release.
Even though I'm still not a big SW fan, I'm seriously considering subscribing to SWG once Rage of the Wookies is released and the new CU implemented.
Regards,
Riotgirl
Edited to remove off-topic element. Riotgirl
"If you think I'm plucky and scrappy and all I need is love, you're in way over your head. I don't have a heart of gold or get nice. There are a lot nicer people coming up. We call them losers."
I and most other gamers won't play a game after everything has been fixed, if we experienced all the problems it had upon release. This is why I won't try EvE online again, which by all accounts was a piece of crap when released and still suffers from some original design flaws.
>>>>
I respect your opinion, but i dare say the "most other gamers" is probably an exageration. Although some games had a bumpy start (usually dictated by marketing people, not the developers) they improve over time. So from personal experience ... if you dont play EVE or SWG these days you simply miss 2 of the best games currently on the market - and for sure the best Sci Fi Games.
EVE has become much more diverse with the EXODUS expansion and player empires of 2000+ players each, rivaling the NPC empires in might and territory. SWG has improved more in the last 3 months than in the whole 12 months before it with the exception of the space element.
Concerning bots in SWG ... bots were a direct result of a failed choice the developers made in the way people become Jedi (commonly believed to be under pressure by Lucasarts at that time to introduce Jedi in larger numbers in the game for marketing reasons). Jedi = endless mindless grinding. To which the player base reacted by letting lots of the grinding be done in AFK bot mode.
However, 95 % of these bots are gone, because
a) The way to become Jedi has changed (interesting in the early phase, still a mindnumbing grind in the later phase) and therefore the motivation to grind 32 professions in minimum time
b) AFK fighting has been nerfed and the workarounds are limited, so most of the loot bots or combat XP bots are gone
c) Crafing on-the-keyboard is faster than with a macro
d) People HAVE usually achieved their profession goals by now and dont NEED to macro grind anymore.
You usually see some entertainer bots still or some helpful people running tumbling macros to help the people who want to improve their medic skills. But those bots are usually toons played regularily during prime time (people just keep their toons running while they are at work to help friends in their player cities who play in other time zones). And even 90 % of those remaining bots will be gone after the Combat Revamp when buffs are reduced to +10 % long term / +20 % short term buffs as compared to the current +100 % entertainer buffs.
In general
1) the macro use in SWG has a much worse reputation on forums than everything I see in game
and
2) servers are much more populated IMHO than claimed on forums. It may help that I live in an active player city on Lok and have some of my vendors in the South Coronet Market District on Corellia , a heavily populated and visited area. As everyone has freedom of choice were to live, I cannot stop people from living and adventuring in ghost towns. SWG has seen an influx of new players, especially those coming from WoW.
One final remark about roleplaying :
With the available Event Perks (100+ items you can get for your roleplaying events) roleplaying and organizing player events has never been easier in any game I played so far. You can get anything from skeletons to NPC actors, from HUGE Jawa Sandcrawlers to cantina jukeboxes with rare SW music, from capture-the-flag games to your own swooprace track (and many many more).
Have fun
Erillion