Pleasantly surprised.

[Super Kami Dende]

So first up this is just an Opinion of my own.

But I finally decided to re-install Sw:tor after 2 years away from it, originally played at release got to 50 and ran Op's before legacy and such came into it.
The game felt rushed and unpolished and I threw in the towel and didn't think I would ever look back.

I came back and decided to sit on preferred Status for a week to test things out and I was actually very surprised that the game feels so much different than it did 2 years ago. Combat feels smoother/Runs better without as much stuttering(on the same PC which is now even older)/The population is quite large over 100+ in every zone I've been in with many at even more over a few different world phases.

The F2P restrictions kind of bugged me a fair bit as I felt REALLY restricted to the point it felt like I wasn't getting quite a few "basic" things that seemed weird to restrict.

Though I bit the Bullet and subbed.

Now that I am subbed I see they have added so much to this game since my last adventure in a galaxy far far away and actually hope it holds itself this well for a much longer time or even steadily increases in population (which from what my guildmates have told me it has been recently).

After seeing they were also in the top 10 most profitable games with $137 million made alone just in cash shops and about half a million subs it makes me think this game really hasn't died as much as I was led to believe on forums.

Thus fair having a blast on my new JK Guardian on The Harbinger. Hope to see many more of you sooon.

[Lovestar]

It's a great game now that people's expectations are set much lower. =)

The hype was too much for the poor thing to live up to (given its helter-skelter development management and "fix it with money" philosophy), but in its current much more modest and humble state, SWTOR is a very good MMO and a lot of fun.

I've been playing for a year and the pop just keeps climbing, no trouble finding people to group with or stuff to do. But I'm fairly easily pleased when I get to swing A LIGHTSABER at things.

[Deleted]

After seeing they were also in the top 10 most profitable games with $137 million made alone just in cash shops and about half a million subs it makes me think this game really hasn't died as much as I was led to believe on forums.

Where did you see this?

[quras]

Where did you see this?

Check this post:

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...e-139m-in-2013

[Dragore]

Feel the exact same way OP. The restrictions for basic stuff is a little over kill but its free so you get what you pay for. It only took me 1 day before i subbed. Rolled a BH and having a lot of fun. The game has defiantly improved.

[Hostagecat]

Where did you see this?

This was posted on massively and it was just the DLCs, not counting subs. This was also posted in the general wow forums as well, because wow was on the list, thats alot of sparkle ponies.


Guess ToR isn't dying after all.

Also welcome back original poster!!!!

[btf]

i play swtor, although usually i play for a week or 2 then leave it fsr and play other games but when i do play it i really enjoy it - prob enjoy it more coz i have a small break from it - as for the f2p rescrictions, i think u can lift a lot of them by buying the relevent item off the market :-ie=more bank space, extra xp, week long pass for fp's etc - so the rescrictions are there but they shouldnt stop u to much

waiting times have come down a lot although i still seem to b waiting around 10 mins sometimes for a group, but thats a lot better than the 30-45 mins i was waiting at the start

[Sarcon]

I was leveling with a friend a while back just to see how the game had changed. I didn't want to sub up, though. The deal was broken when I couldn't hide my head slot without spending cartel points.. I mean.. Come on...

[Lovestar]

I was leveling with a friend a while back just to see how the game had changed. I didn't want to sub up, though. The deal was broken when I couldn't hide my head slot without spending cartel points.. I mean.. Come on...

SWTOR is the Anti-Team Fortress 2, where it's engineered to make you spend money to not have a hat.

Because wow, those hats are ugly. I look at some helms and think: "The mission with this item was to ensure people either sub or buy Cartel Coins."

[SuperomegaOP]

the game is probably one of the worst f2ps but way better than it ever was if you actually pay.

[Fkiolaris]

the game is probably one of the worst f2ps but way better than it ever was if you actually pay.

Pretty much this. They made a lot of small changes and additions that really add to the game, at least in comparison to what it was pre-1.4 when I left.

[Deleted]

While I agree it is a good game. Combat and optimising in preformance hasn't changed...at all. I mean, nothing changed. If it feels better then either you fixed your PC (hardware or software) or your internet connection has improved.

[Lovestar]

While I agree it is a good game. Combat and optimising in preformance hasn't changed...at all. I mean, nothing changed. If it feels better then either you fixed your PC (hardware or software) or your internet connection has improved.

This game is definitely a clunkfest at the technical level. A pretty clunkfest, but a clunkfest. I just can't bring myself to dislike it when it's this charming. =)

Plus, at least they finally fixed the memory leak that was crashing everyone after a couple hours of gameplay, hahaha.

[Ealyssa]

SWTOR is the Anti-Team Fortress 2, where it's engineered to make you spend money to not have a hat.

Because wow, those hats are ugly. I look at some helms and think: "The mission with this item was to ensure people either sub or buy Cartel Coins."

That sums up SWTOR amazingly well. Even if this game isn't that bad (I took 6 month sub at release, played it nearly until the end). The F2P is just the WORST ever seen. It's just insane how badly it was done.

In a good F2P developers ask themselves : "What cool things can we had to incentive our players to spend some cash ?"
In SWTOR developers (or more likely EA breathing heavily on their necks) : "How can we annoy players to force them to spend some cash ?"

How Free2Play became Forced2Pay. But they make money, so I guess some people are more tolerant than I am.

[Faesroll]

I picked it up last october again for 1.5 month or so after like 2 years. Really enjoyed it, the raids were quite fun and some of the planets are really amazing with Makeb being my favorite. Don't exactly remember why I stopped playing all of the sudden though.

[Lovestar]

In a good F2P developers ask themselves : "What cool things can we had to incentive our players to spend some cash ?"

To be fair, that's exactly how CartMart works if you manage to break loose from the pure F2P restrictions, either through subbing or buying enough Cartel unlocks. Once the game is playable, the SWTOR cash shop adds a lot of awesome stuff to the game.

Unfortunately you are right about the "F2P". It's really better summarized as "Free to Pay" or "Free to Try", since playing without spending any money is an exercise in torture as you go deeper into the game.

That said, it's not unreasonable to be asked to spend something for a game. Nor is it a shabby deal to get a free "demo" that you can play forever and technically participate in all/most content (in a crippled fashion). Yes, the "F2P" moniker is a little dubious/misleading, but overall it's still a pretty good deal even at the entry level.

[Super Kami Dende]

The biggest F2P annoyance I had was finishing a quest and having the quest reward I wanted greyed out and unavailable to choose.

I mean what the dick, denying quest rewards was pretty retarded.

[Deleted]

I've been playing this game for about 6 months soon and I've had an absolute blast. After hearing so many negative things about it, I had no real expectations when I jumped in on the action but the result was that I was definitely pleasantly surprised. I still have to agree that the restrictions for F2P are rather ridiculous... I decided to go preferred a while ago and I haven't regretted it. I've been doing pretty nicely by saving up some credits and buying unlocks off of GTN rather than spending real money on Cartel Coins. And oh yeah, the quest rewards... Really, game? Only 1-2 options and I can't get any of them because I'm not subbed... Gee, thanks. :I

I'm pretty sure I'll keep playing this game, I already have quite a few characters just waiting to get their share of my gaming time. :3

[May90]

I feel that the game has drastically improved lately as well. Previously I never managed to play more than 5-6 days in a row and got terribly bored. Now I took my Trooper from level 43 or so and leveled her to nearly level 51, completing the 3rd chapter, and started today a light side Sith Inquisitor and am having a blast with her (so much better than the Trooper's story in my opinion, feels like a real Star Wars story, while Trooper felt more like a generic war movie from 80-s).

Note that I play only for the lore and the story and quit immediately after the main story is over, so I cannot really evaluate the lategame. But the leveling improved so much, in my opinion. If they only fixed performance issues and removed all the "kill N dudes" quests, this game would be almost as good as KotoR in terms of single-player experience!

[Triptych]

I'll also chime in with my support for the current incarnation of the game.

I started around Christmas time, bought subscriptions for myself and my girlfriend after the first week, and we've both been playing regularly and having a great time so far.

The stories are fun, the planets and environments have a very nice "Star Wars vibe", and the game mechanics are very solid and familiar (they're lifted directly out of early Warcraft, after all!). Our highest characters are only lvl 27, so we've only got as far as Nar Shaddaa, but the player population has been teeming on every world. Always folks looking for the heroic missions.

I'd find the F2P restrictions a bit hard to cope with long-term though. Especially the rewards that are dangled in your face when you turn in a mission. But hey, I like supporting things that I use and enjoy, so a subscription was a no-brainer. I don't even mind paying for my copy of the avast anti-virus software, hehe.