SWTOR 1 year later, how is it?

[Redbtk]

So like many others, I was absolutely stoked for SWTOR. Couldn't stop watching beta videos and looking for leaks. Fast forward a few weeks, the game was dying on me, hard. I was playing with 4 RL friends, and we all quit within the first month. We were pretty shocked at how fast the subs were plummeting, and not even a year into release it goes F2P.

I haven't looked at SWTOR since Janauary, how is the PVP/PVE in the game as of now? Right as I quit is when Ilum or w/e was an absolute joke, where Republic wasn't getting anything done in there.

-Which classes are currently performing the best/worst in PVP?
-How is the gearing process for PVP? Does it take a long time?
-How friendly is the game for New Players? Is it like Warhammer where max RR would obliterate you instantly?
-Is there any form of competitive PVP in swtor? Hopefully not like World of Failcraft's current burst fiasco...sorry backspace is broken, meant Failcraft. Dangit!, Warcraft**

[RoninaThorstone]

So like many others, I was absolutely stoked for SWTOR. Couldn't stop watching beta videos and looking for leaks. Fast forward a few weeks, the game was dying on me, hard. I was playing with 4 RL friends, and we all quit within the first month. We were pretty shocked at how fast the subs were plummeting, and not even a year into release it goes F2P.

I haven't looked at SWTOR since Janauary, how is the PVP/PVE in the game as of now? Right as I quit is when Ilum or w/e was an absolute joke, where Republic wasn't getting anything done in there.

-Which classes are currently performing the best/worst in PVP?
-How is the gearing process for PVP? Does it take a long time?
-How friendly is the game for New Players? Is it like Warhammer where max RR would obliterate you instantly?
-Is there any form of competitive PVP in swtor? Hopefully not like World of Failcraft's current burst fiasco...sorry backspace is broken, meant Failcraft. Dangit!, Warcraft**

Classes are "decently" balanced. But then again, does balance really matter compared to fun?
The gearing process doesn't take all that long. But then again, why is there gear in pvp?
Its an mmo. Anyone can pick it up.
There's ranked WZs now.

The f2p option is most excellent. You can get an insane amount of unlocks for cheap off the GTN.

[Parrin]

GW2 is the only other viable PVP option. If you've played it, and neither SWTOR or GW2 satisfies your PVP, then you need to re-evaluate yourself. Because it's not the games; your expectations are unrealistic.

As for PVE, well... SWTOR is a lot better than it was at launch (group-finder, legacy unlocks, cartel unlocks, UI customization). But there isn't much more content. You don't sound like you played for the story, so you should enjoy checking out the new operation(s) and heroic levels on other instances.

[select20]

Hard to say. In my opinion, most people that raced to end content, as in any game that has released recently, end up quitting soon after release. If you didn't like it then, not sure how much you'll like it now. Since the beginning I've only had maybe 10-15 hours a week to play. I have loved it since the beginning. Since it's free to play, just try it.

[btf]

i had a break when MoP arrived but now im back playing tor, and loving it - i alternate between tor and wow each night and since i came back i have a refreshed sense of wanting to get to lvl 50 and as select20 says, its f2p so try it(my friend tried f2p and ended up subby for 6 months at least...:-0)

and again i cant understand all this about no end game content - it had 3 raids all with 3 difficulties and it started with about 20 flash points, all of which had an hc setting to them - what do u do in wow now, do hc instances until they get boring(which doesnt take long) and raid until its on farm then what??? -

[Forsedar]

The PvE side of things has definitely become excellent. Its been a few weeks since new content has came out, and there has yet to be a single 16man guild able to clear all of it on Nightmare. Right now, 16man is overtuned (but in a good way) so I am loving it. It provides a great challenge for those of us looking to take on extremely hard hard tasks.

[Aydinx2]

The f2p option is most excellent. You can get an insane amount of unlocks for cheap off the GTN.

Did you even play it?
You get 2 out of 10 races for your class if you play for free, people who pay it level/get currency faster and have less wait time in between their chat messages.
This is only the tip of the iceberg, there's so much that they did wrong.
This is what people should look to when asking how NOT to make a game (of any genre).

[RoninaThorstone]

Did you even play it?
You get 2 out of 10 races for your class if you play for free, people who pay it level/get currency faster and have less wait time in between their chat messages.
This is only the tip of the iceberg, there's so much that they did wrong.
This is what people should look to when asking how NOT to make a game (of any genre).

Real f2pers are preferred status and buy their unlocks off the GTN or from other players.

[Edge-]

Real f2pers are preferred status and buy their unlocks off the GTN or from other players.

So I'm not a F2Per? >.>

[TheOne]

Real f2pers are preferred status and buy their unlocks off the GTN or from other players.

People are way too hung up on what they see on the surface. Most of these posters that spew nothing but hate haven't even given the game more than an hour since it went f2p. Most of them even tell you so. Their opinions mean less then zero. No one listens. No one cares about anything except their own narrow minded point of view.

I, for one, appreciate the fact that hk-51 is on here daily trying as hard as he/she can to set people in the right direction. Keep fighting the good fight.

[Kelimbror]

I, for one, appreciate the fact that hk-51 is on here daily trying as hard as he/she can to set people in the right direction. Keep fighting the good fight.

This is not what he is doing at all. He was as harsh a critic as I was and still admits it is nowhere near as great as other games. However, the revelation that a lot of the less friendly unlocks can be purchased via in game credits through the GTN means that there is now a way for your play to directly translate to something that costs money. You can earn things by playing the game.

This is a hallmark of better F2P models. The things like currency, character limits, and storage are present in most games because they tend to be the most stifling things that people want to pay for. Even LotRO, which I think is a great model, has these harsh restrictions until you give them a little money. Having a company ask for a little money and basically saying give us a subscription or screw off are two different things. SWTOR started off as the latter and is gradually progressing to the former.

One major thing I could think that would take their model up a lot of notches would be to have permanent unlocks for WZ/FP/Space and Combo packs for those. I would be much more inclined to drop say...$40 for 6 months of ops+space than I would be to buy anything in a weekly increment of anything.

To make it perfect, they could still stick with a weekly method, but make sure that the combined price of a month of 2 activities does not equal $15, but buying all of them is more expensive than $15. Think $6.00 for a month of an activity. This way they could honestly say that this model lets you pay to play how you want. There's the caveat that you will spend more upfront getting through restrictions, but should be worth it in the longrun.

[RoninaThorstone]

It's true.

If it weren't for the fact that you can use the GTN to lift almost every restriction than I would be sharpening my pitchfork. (Well, I still am but that's because of space)

So far I have bought off the GTN:
2 artifact authorizations
Account wide section X
Account wide show legacy
Account wide show titles
2 event authorizations
I bought and sold back 2 action bars
2 hide helms

And a few other things like that.

I still have all my cartel coins too.

[notorious98]

Just logged onto my account to check for these unlocks on the GTN and people are selling them for more than a premium player can afford. Section X access for 800k? Who's going to pay that? Account wide artifact unlock for 3 mil? Account wide event equip for 50 mil? People on my server are either crazy or stupid. Possibly both.

[RoninaThorstone]

Just logged onto my account to check for these unlocks on the GTN and people are selling them for more than a premium player can afford. Section X access for 800k? Who's going to pay that? Account wide artifact unlock for 3 mil? Account wide event equip for 50 mil? People on my server are either crazy or stupid. Possibly both.

Your server sounds stupid.

I got mine for about 50k to 300k

pot5 ftw

[Profyrion]

Don't you still get a free full set of PvP gear when you ding 50? You get a token or something. I think I sold mine for credits.

[Kelimbror]

Just logged onto my account to check for these unlocks on the GTN and people are selling them for more than a premium player can afford. Section X access for 800k? Who's going to pay that? Account wide artifact unlock for 3 mil? Account wide event equip for 50 mil? People on my server are either crazy or stupid. Possibly both.

It took me 3 weeks on JC to get section X and Gear auth account wide under 350k. Before that I saw the same BS prices that were 1-3mil and up. It should eventually plateau, unless people really like having wasted their real money for nothing.

[Hothgor]

Not all F2P is done badly. GW2 being a perfect example. Planetside 2 is great. I'm actually quite enjoying myself playing old school EverQuest, though I did resub when it was 67% off for a year :P

[notorious98]

Not all F2P is done badly. GW2 being a perfect example. Planetside 2 is great. I'm actually quite enjoying myself playing old school EverQuest, though I did resub when it was 67% off for a year :P

GW2 is B2P, not F2P.

[RoninaThorstone]

Don't you still get a free full set of PvP gear when you ding 50? You get a token or something. I think I sold mine for credits.

You do.

+10char

---------- Post added 2012-12-04 at 10:14 PM ----------

GW2 is B2P, not F2P.

Yeah. Seriously.

Where are people getting that crap?

Its a 60 dollar game.

Just because it doesn't have a sub doesn't mean its f2p.

[Deleted]

Just logged onto my account to check for these unlocks on the GTN and people are selling them for more than a premium player can afford. Section X access for 800k? Who's going to pay that? Account wide artifact unlock for 3 mil? Account wide event equip for 50 mil? People on my server are either crazy or stupid. Possibly both.

As of typing now, on my server Section X access one character only is above 800k, account wide above 1,5k. It's sold by only like 5-6 ppl. Account wide artifact equipment authorization being sold for over 2,5k milion credits by 3 ppl. In the first week of F2P only 1 guy was selling the artifact equipment authorization for 6 million credits. I have like less than two weeks left on my subscription and I don't see the prices going under 350k. I'm doing as much dailies as I can to earn credits. But I can't do them all due to time everyday, some stuff to do and real life work. In worst case scenario I have to go buy the unlock for 2,5 million credits and buy the rest with the cartel coins I have accumulated so far. The artifact equipment wide account unlock costs 1200 cartel coins, so if I can buy that one, I'm settled.

It's true.

If it weren't for the fact that you can use the GTN to lift almost every restriction than I would be sharpening my pitchfork. (Well, I still am but that's because of space)

So far I have bought off the GTN:
2 artifact authorizations
Account wide section X
Account wide show legacy
Account wide show titles
2 event authorizations
I bought and sold back 2 action bars
2 hide helms

And a few other things like that.

I still have all my cartel coins too.

I don't know how lucky you are, I have yet to possess any of those unlocks, except section X 1 character. In the first days of F2P if memory serves I did see Unify Colour unlock and hide helmet unlock, but I haven't seen it since then. I didn't buy the unlocks because I was waiting to see how the price will change over time. So far the unlocks I have seen ppl selling on GTN are cargo hold, inventory and GTN unlocks. You said a multiple times already in different threads when you are responding to another poster how the system works and you can play the game without paying a penny. But looking at my server I would say it's not working in favor of the ppl on my server. It seems in the end it comes down to the ppl that are selling the Cartel Market items and for how much they want to sell the items. I am expecting the worst, having to buy off the artifact equipment authorization for over 2,5 million credits and buy rest with my cartel coins.