While the new content is great and all, it also shows BioWare is absolutely freakin' clueless as to why they are bleeding subs at such a rapid rate and ultimately why this game will be doomed to go into maintenance mode. More of the Same is NOT what is needed to save the game.
First, they desperately need to correct the server issues, people are quitting daily as this goes on and on.
Second, they need to drop their damn egos and realize that an MMO is NOT a single-player RPG that can be developed in a vacuum. When you are asking players to pay a monthly premium for game play, you better pay attention to where your problems are and rigorously defend not losing subs.
Third, they need to add some MMO player-enabled elements - Pazaak, Player generated pazaak tournaments, rare pazaak card drops sprinkled throughout the game, various gambling games at the biggest waste of space ever developed in an MMO - the casino on Nar Shadda, Guild Ships, player customization on their ships (SWTOR version of housing) with customization drops and boss trophies added in the game, Ranked Warzone PvP finally corrected, open warzone PvP (Ilum) corrected, etc.
Fourth, they need to work on correcting some underlying systems - a real space combat game, rather than a throwback to 1990 (where space games were still better). Space PvP. Capital Guild Ship PvP. Expand existing planets with more exploration zones, etc.
Lastly, finish balancing the game elements and stop the Imperial favoritism (you can deny it but most players play both sides and have pointed out how this favortisim exists and continues to exist). They really messed up with the massive 1.2 class adjustments so soon after launch. Worse, they were told by players during testing not to do it but they still did. Then, their lead designer steadfastly refuses to believe they did the wrong thing - because his data says otherwise. He's looking at the wrong data point - he should be looking at the massive bleed of subs as an indicator that YOU DID THE WRONG THING!
I now shake my head at just how BioWare is looking completely incompetent and out of touch with the customer base when it comes to MMOs. I also know, from long conversations on vent with guildmates, I am definately not in the minority when it comes to this viewpoint.
Overall, many have written off this game - not just because of where it stands today, but because trailers like this show how out of touch BioWare is and that they just don't get (or are too arrogant to admit) what the real problems are. The level cap raise (which will introduce another whole host of issues on it's own) so soon after launch is another example of this. The game is done by the end of this year (it will survive in WAR style maintenance mode) you can stick a fork in it.
Bless those poor people who lost their jobs and I hope they find new ones. Other than that SWTOR failing is good for the industry it says no to themeparks no to 0 innovation, no to low feature launches/bugs and no to snail pace patching.
In SWTOR I barely saw anyone once leaving the starting planets when I last logged in. Even the Fleet had maybe 40 people on it. The server I play on is Vulkar's Highway, so although your numbers might confirm what you are saying (Like I said I have no idea) my personal experience is quite the opposite.
You do know that the person who posted those estimates did some extremely basic guesstimating? And 344 per server is probably not that far off where some other games are (Rift for example), that number wasnt primetime, that was just an average.
Also, the best estimate I saw for the number of layoffs was 150. The SWtoR staff was around 800. Thats less than 20%.
You might want to look up the meaning of the word fact. You seem to think it means both opinion and lie, it does not.
Known about most of these for some time when it was initially leaked but good to see they're still going forward with all those concepts. Good info for those that may not have been aware so thanks OP. Nice to see transfers and the f2p low level option come in play. Hopefully that will bring some players back and some new blood into the game. What would be even nicer is if they get that group finder in game asap
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.
Looking at the OP list of things they are adding, its not really a great deal for me - not enough for me to resub, been away for around 3 months and cant really see myself going back
I like in the video it says "coming this year", hmmm if its in December then its a little to late for most people and i cant see it coming this month
5-10 levels more to speed easily through in very litle time (if it is more than that i will be suprised but some people have said 65) to get to cap
Added the Thundercats as a new species, with all the iconic species out there they choose one which is very little known - ho hum there will never be a Rodian character to play as......../cry
1 new companion - nice to have a new companion but adds very little to the game
New planet - its going to be same old, same old, very little in the way of life and "atmosphere" just like the rest
Space mission - does very little for me as im not very interested in this style of space
Operation looks interesting from what i have seen of it, have to look more at that
All in all for me personally its not looking that exciting, i really wanted to like this game but it does nothing for me and leaves me as hollow as the prequal trillogy did, like a lot of things these days its to much flash and not enough substance
I love how people throw out false budget numbers as fact. The game is making money. People call it the biggest failure in MMO history. Really? What about Vanguard, Darkfall, Hellgate, Shadowbane, AoC, EQ2, COH, and APB?
Don't get me wrong. I think the game started a downward turn with 1.2, but to call it a failure when it's making profit based on some false budget numbers? That is a bridge too far.
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For those saying a raise in level cap and a new planet ain't an expansion. I point you at the war expansion bioware made 20 more pvp levels, new overpowered armour sets and the ability to dress up like a rat.
The reason all of the items listed won't make much of a difference to the crowds that have left, myself included, is that it doesn't address anything but add more content.
That may sound daft as more content is always a good thing. However, the game is soleless and just doesn't have the 'core' mechanics to make it feel like a living breathing world with exploration and anything that is more than skin deep.
Even if they added 10 more planets with more things to kill or more cut scenes, it still feels like a sausage machine, albeit with pretty colours, were players are just pushed through a sausage skin in one direction. There are no options or wide open spaces in Star Wars, just the illusion there is.
I was buzzed until level 25 and then I realised every single zone, mission etc. Was exactly the same, just a different skin. Once an audience is disengaged then its hard for them to go back. Missions, planets, combat don't keep masses playing.
However, I would like to say that I think its great they are releasing content for players that do enjoy it.
In SWTOR I barely saw anyone once leaving the starting planets when I last logged in. Even the Fleet had maybe 40 people on it. The server I play on is Vulkar's Highway, so although your numbers might confirm what you are saying (Like I said I have no idea) my personal experience is quite the opposite.
40? I just resubbed a few weeks ago to see how things were going, and to finish the personal story... At most I saw 3 at any given location .
Dr. Ray Muzyka, Co-Founder of BioWare, is now on stage to talk about Star Wars: The Old Republic.
1:28
"Our goal is to provide a living service that's always on."
1:29
The Old Republic will be adding new PvP warzones to the game, along with more challenging group and high-level content, including a new version of Nightmare difficulty mode.
1:30
Group finder, ranked PvP, and character transfers are now available, and level caps have been increased for every class.
1:30
A new planet, Makeb, will introduce new storylines and more. There are also new companion characters and playable species coming soon.
1:31
Looks like one of the new companions is an Assassin Droid! Lots of sneak peeks in this trailer.
Just watching the E3 Pokket interview with Daniel Erickson and he was asked (6min26) about naming 1 feature that will bring people back and keep playing, he said the level cap increase...........................and high quality storytelling in thier "great quality AAA Bioware storytelling"
Comments
This post is factually false.
'Half of their staff' is not true.
I go with facts / numbers that we know are true and to my knowledge 1.3M was the latest number we have as facts.
But then again, when has 'facts' got in the way of people lying when hating a game? LOL
Gdemami -
Informing people about your thoughts and impressions is not a review, it's a blog.
Last fact we know is they admitted they pad sub numbers.
Fact.
95% of servers are dead
Fact
Average players/server at peak time 344
Fact
Laid off half (or close to half) their staff
Fact
EA publically removed it from their radar
Fact
QFT. They are idiots
Survivor of the great MMORPG Famine of 2011
I can't wait either. An assasin droid for a companion would go good with my bounty hunter.
Currently Playing: World of Warcraft
What a bunch of tripe.
Bless those poor people who lost their jobs and I hope they find new ones. Other than that SWTOR failing is good for the industry it says no to themeparks no to 0 innovation, no to low feature launches/bugs and no to snail pace patching.
[mod edit]
In SWTOR I barely saw anyone once leaving the starting planets when I last logged in. Even the Fleet had maybe 40 people on it. The server I play on is Vulkar's Highway, so although your numbers might confirm what you are saying (Like I said I have no idea) my personal experience is quite the opposite.
You do know that the person who posted those estimates did some extremely basic guesstimating? And 344 per server is probably not that far off where some other games are (Rift for example), that number wasnt primetime, that was just an average.
Also, the best estimate I saw for the number of layoffs was 150. The SWtoR staff was around 800. Thats less than 20%.
You might want to look up the meaning of the word fact. You seem to think it means both opinion and lie, it does not.
If you want to discuss other games like SWG, please do so in the appropriate forum. This one is for SWTOR discussion.
To give feedback on moderation, contact mikeb@mmorpg.com
Known about most of these for some time when it was initially leaked but good to see they're still going forward with all those concepts. Good info for those that may not have been aware so thanks OP. Nice to see transfers and the f2p low level option come in play. Hopefully that will bring some players back and some new blood into the game. What would be even nicer is if they get that group finder in game asap
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.
Looking at the OP list of things they are adding, its not really a great deal for me - not enough for me to resub, been away for around 3 months and cant really see myself going back
I like in the video it says "coming this year", hmmm if its in December then its a little to late for most people and i cant see it coming this month
5-10 levels more to speed easily through in very litle time (if it is more than that i will be suprised but some people have said 65) to get to cap
Added the Thundercats as a new species, with all the iconic species out there they choose one which is very little known - ho hum there will never be a Rodian character to play as......../cry
1 new companion - nice to have a new companion but adds very little to the game
New planet - its going to be same old, same old, very little in the way of life and "atmosphere" just like the rest
Space mission - does very little for me as im not very interested in this style of space
Operation looks interesting from what i have seen of it, have to look more at that
All in all for me personally its not looking that exciting, i really wanted to like this game but it does nothing for me and leaves me as hollow as the prequal trillogy did, like a lot of things these days its to much flash and not enough substance
Star Wars Galaxies relaunch by December 2012
I love how people throw out false budget numbers as fact. The game is making money. People call it the biggest failure in MMO history. Really? What about Vanguard, Darkfall, Hellgate, Shadowbane, AoC, EQ2, COH, and APB?
Don't get me wrong. I think the game started a downward turn with 1.2, but to call it a failure when it's making profit based on some false budget numbers? That is a bridge too far.
Error: 37. Signature not found. Please connect to my server for signature access.
The reason all of the items listed won't make much of a difference to the crowds that have left, myself included, is that it doesn't address anything but add more content.
That may sound daft as more content is always a good thing. However, the game is soleless and just doesn't have the 'core' mechanics to make it feel like a living breathing world with exploration and anything that is more than skin deep.
Even if they added 10 more planets with more things to kill or more cut scenes, it still feels like a sausage machine, albeit with pretty colours, were players are just pushed through a sausage skin in one direction. There are no options or wide open spaces in Star Wars, just the illusion there is.
I was buzzed until level 25 and then I realised every single zone, mission etc. Was exactly the same, just a different skin. Once an audience is disengaged then its hard for them to go back. Missions, planets, combat don't keep masses playing.
However, I would like to say that I think its great they are releasing content for players that do enjoy it.
40? I just resubbed a few weeks ago to see how things were going, and to finish the personal story... At most I saw 3 at any given location
.
How about a game that is fun instead?
Few things that would bring me back -
Free transers (obviously being done)
Higher character cap per server so I can bring my Imperials to the same server as my republic.
More focus on game mechanics outside of combat - i.e. housing, customizing ships, more in depth stories with your companions.
Removal of PvP stats - I hate any game that adds in an extra stat for PvP or at least get it somewhere in the general area of balance.
Better space combat.
I haven't written off SWTOR completely yet, but after 3 level 50's I really just didn't have anything to do anymore.
My Guild Wars 2 Vids
Just watching the E3 Pokket interview with Daniel Erickson and he was asked (6min26) about naming 1 feature that will bring people back and keep playing, he said the level cap increase...........................and high quality storytelling in thier "great quality AAA Bioware storytelling"
Star Wars Galaxies relaunch by December 2012