Queue times the number one problem for SWTOR?

[Buxton McGraff]

Over the last two months I've really gotten back into SWTOR. After playing for the first 8 months of the game, I took a break but decided to try it out again when I heard of the changes in 3.0. I've really taken a liking to the game now and have been having a lot of fun for the most part. But now that I'm level 60 I'm beginning to lose interest.

After I'm done with my dailies on Ziost and Yavin 4, I struggle to find a reason to stay logged in. I might be missing something since I'm new, and that's part of the reason I'm here. With DPS queue times for heroic flashpoints being upwards of 2 hours, I'm finding it difficult to maintain interest in the game.

Is there any other way to progress my character after doing my dailies, or is the only other option to sit in Warzones for several hours waiting for a flashpoint queue?

(P.S I know I can join a guild, and I have but it doesn't seem like there are many people wanting to group for heroic flashpoints.)

[Darth Belichick]

Personally, I treat SWTOR as a single player game with MMO elements to it. Especially with no new ops or dungeons coming out, it feels more like all single player DLC coming out, which is fine with me. Once I'm done with all the stories and I feel satisfied with the game, I unsub.

[Poppincaps]

Personally, I treat SWTOR as a single player game with MMO elements to it. Especially with no new ops or dungeons coming out, it feels more like all single player DLC coming out, which is fine with me. Once I'm done with all the stories and I feel satisfied with the game, I unsub.

Yeah, I agree with this. I feel like if you're going to raid or do PVP you might as well just play WoW. The strength of SWTOR is the story and the ability to shape your own story (somewhat).

[Sills]

Personally, I treat SWTOR as a single player game with MMO elements to it. Especially with no new ops or dungeons coming out, it feels more like all single player DLC coming out, which is fine with me. Once I'm done with all the stories and I feel satisfied with the game, I unsub.

This is how I approach it as well. I'm still subbed because I am still levelling new characters and exploring new aspects of the stories. Once I finish the content that I want to enjoy, then I'll unsub. Each game is different and it's important to find what you enjoy in these games and focus on that. Like the good Darth said, if you treat this game as a single player, story based game with a few MMO aspects, then you'll find your time better spent. BW is looking at designing it in that way anyway with the new expansion that's coming out next month.

The long queue times are bothersome, but I don't really run OPs or FPs in SWTOR anymore. If I want to see that kind of content, then I'll sub back to WoW. Since I don't I'm more than happy just plugging away with my characters and enjoying the stories.

[Katchii]

Personally, I treat SWTOR as a single player game with MMO elements to it. Especially with no new ops or dungeons coming out, it feels more like all single player DLC coming out, which is fine with me. Once I'm done with all the stories and I feel satisfied with the game, I unsub.

This.

There are better MMO's out there for the end-game content, but SWToR is amazing if taken as a single player, story driven, game with MMO elements.

[Edge-]

This.

There are better MMO's out there for the end-game content, but SWToR is amazing if taken as a single player, story driven, game with MMO elements.

While I don't necessarily disagree with this statement, it's incredibly sad how true it is. Imagine how much money EA/BioWare could have saved by making it a non-MMO, or how much of that money could have been invested into making the non-MMO version far better : /

I have similar complaints about The Secret World, both that and SWTOR feel like games that really should have been single player/co-op RPG's but someone wanted to chase WoW-bux so said, "IT IS A MMO NOW!"

[quras]

Personally, I treat SWTOR as a single player game with MMO elements to it. Especially with no new ops or dungeons coming out, it feels more like all single player DLC coming out, which is fine with me. Once I'm done with all the stories and I feel satisfied with the game, I unsub.

Sad but true.

You could get some good multi-player experience from SWTOR but going forward, only if you're new to the game. If you've been playing a while it's best to see it as a single player experience cause you're not getting anything new for end game and BW expects you to continue to run content you have been from 1 to 4 years ago just with it's level capped increased. No new OPS/raids, no new Fp, no new PVP areas.

All single player story and I have no doubt it will be a really good experience but still single player. You have the ability to pick up someone else if you want but you really don't need to so I highly doubt many will.

Until new end game group content comes, it's about as single player as you can get.

[karumayu]

The key is probably to find a large and active guild, then find a regular team to run FPs with. I'm personally like the other posters above me and mostly just play it for the story experience and an altoholic. If it is the character gear progression that concerns you, then you can join up on the numerous groups that are formed for operations or the world boss runs. You will get a good amount of commendations that is required to purchase the high end gear.

According to the blog post a bit earlier, they are going to revamp the rewards to offer more decorations and such from scaled FPs / Old operations and that might entice more players to sign up for more group content.

[quras]

The key is probably to find a large and active guild, then find a regular team to run FPs with. I'm personally like the other posters above me and mostly just play it for the story experience and an altoholic. If it is the character gear progression that concerns you, then you can join up on the numerous groups that are formed for operations or the world boss runs. You will get a good amount of commendations that is required to purchase the high end gear.

According to the blog post a bit earlier, they are going to revamp the rewards to offer more decorations and such from scaled FPs / Old operations and that might entice more players to sign up for more group content.

I think you're kind right but it's not just about rewards or guilds. I think there are a lot of people that put their toes into running an OPS. Problem is, no new OPS or FP and I'm not sure decos and some comm rewards will be rewarding enough when they content we are suppose to run has been run to death for the past 1 to 4 years. Story alone wont cut it when we'll consume the story so fast it will make your head spin. Guess alts are a must this time around. Same story of course but different toon.

New expansion, with a great story but you're told to run old end game content till an imagined time happens months later and BW puts out something new and bit more interesting at end game. I really can't grasp how they thought story alone is the way to go after the way launch happened and the only end game content remaining is content we have done to death (if you're one to run that content at all).

Maybe BW really is looking at an expansion to garner new gamers and not really play up old SWTOR gamers to much. You got to admit. This expansion hits all the right spots for someone just getting into it.

There is a large hole in the older/current player retention area for this expansion that I don't think story (no matter how good it is) will hold gamers over for any long length of time.

[Fkiolaris]

Had there been an alternative Star Wars MMO out there then perhaps it wouldn't have bothered me that much. But since this is the only Star Wars MMO (and probably the only to exist for a long time) it really bothers me that they are treating it as a single-player game with a sub. On top of that, I also find the game to have certain elements that make it very entertaining as an MMO (eg some fun classes), which makes it even more of a shame.

[Ragingheadache]

One of the more interesting outcomes regarding tactical flashpoints is that you can play a tank or healer without the usual massive expectations regarding performance & ability being heaped on you compared with say a WoW heroic dungeon. Also SWTOR is probably one of the only MMOs where I would say it is worthwhile rolling an alt or two for the other class stories.

[Edge-]

One of the more interesting outcomes regarding tactical flashpoints is that you can play a tank or healer without the usual massive expectations regarding performance & ability being heaped on you compared with say a WoW heroic dungeon.

Are they really massive? I mean, they can be a pain with bad groups I've rarely ever found them to be "massive" in any MMO I've played outside of high-end play. Don't get me wrong, I like tactical flashpoints as alternatives, but they exist more to combat the lack of tanks/healers and speed up queue times for impatient dps than anything else. It's partially a result of groups in SWTOR only featuring 2 dps rather than the standard 3 many other MMO's have (or 2 and a support). Not to mention things like mouseover macros for healing are still desperately needed -____-

Also SWTOR is probably one of the only MMOs where I would say it is worthwhile rolling an alt or two for the other class stories.

BioWare agrees. This was their solution to people running out of content at launch in under a month : P

But yeah, it's a solid move given the class stories. I'm leveling a Sage now (already have a Jug) and plan to level a few others as well eventually.

[Witchblade77]

honestly? this depends on your server and role. as a healer, I have pretty short queues, but I also play on one of the busiest servers in a game. PvP servers are all but dead, especially with 90cc transfers.

that said, at this particular time? very few people are running anything at all outside of their guild, becasue flashpoints offer almost no incentive to run them, as gear you get on ziost is generally better (so people just move straight into Ops, leaving flashpoints behind, bosses that have guaranteed deco drops (aka bonus bosses) can be crapshoot, .... AND its pre-expansion/summer blues. sadly... I'm not sure if KOTFE will fix this. given its focus on solo play :/ of course... now that they are nerfing crafting for conquest, more people might run those, but then again... with pvp being the only unlimited way of grinding conquest points, its more likely that pvp queues will get hopping, while flashpoints will remain mostly abandoned.

[karumayu]

I think you're kind right but it's not just about rewards or guilds. I think there are a lot of people that put their toes into running an OPS. Problem is, no new OPS or FP and I'm not sure decos and some comm rewards will be rewarding enough when they content we are suppose to run has been run to death for the past 1 to 4 years. Story alone wont cut it when we'll consume the story so fast it will make your head spin. Guess alts are a must this time around. Same story of course but different toon.

New expansion, with a great story but you're told to run old end game content till an imagined time happens months later and BW puts out something new and bit more interesting at end game. I really can't grasp how they thought story alone is the way to go after the way launch happened and the only end game content remaining is content we have done to death (if you're one to run that content at all).

Maybe BW really is looking at an expansion to garner new gamers and not really play up old SWTOR gamers to much. You got to admit. This expansion hits all the right spots for someone just getting into it.

There is a large hole in the older/current player retention area for this expansion that I don't think story (no matter how good it is) will hold gamers over for any long length of time.

I agree with you, and the retention of players between November to late January will be the toughest. If they can manage to write the story with the standards used for episodic TV shows (just a lot more interactive and branching) from there, it can hook up a lot of players like me who enjoy the story even for the nth time.

I've noticed on the other thread about level scaling that there are new rewards going to be offered from them. What I can glean from that is it is going to serve as a way to build up your allegiance with the factions. So in a way the elder OPs and FPs will award relevant rewards besides Vanity, but still the mental barrier to do yet again some content that has been done for the past few years is not to be underestimated.