SWTOR 1 year later, how is it?

[RoninaThorstone]

BRB, solving the fiscal cliff crisis with credible, crayon graphs.

You know, if we did half of the agreed upon, over the past 4 years, we could easily get rid of the deficit?
Like, take a comment obama made about our medicare system. "Most modern countries spend about 11% of their GDP on similar programs with better results and we spend 16% of our GDP. There's room for improvement in terms of efficiency" *translation* "We should be able to cut our medicare program by 30% while also expecting better care". And most those other countries experience a GDP of 2%, what we in America would describe as anemic. The main problem is that private insurance and medical practice insurance which in tandem push up the cost of care off the assumption that they exist. But that is a long process to explain and neither party will be in a position to fix it.

[Kelimbror]

You know, if we did half of the agreed upon, over the past 4 years, we could easily get rid of the deficit?
Like, take a comment obama made about our medicare system. "Most modern countries spend about 11% of their GDP on similar programs with better results and we spend 16% of our GDP. There's room for improvement in terms of efficiency" *translation* "We should be able to cut our medicare program by 30% while also expecting better care". And most those other countries experience a GDP of 2%, what we in America would describe as anemic. The main problem is that private insurance and medical practice insurance which in tandem push up the cost of care off the assumption that they exist. But that is a long process to explain and neither party will be in a position to fix it.

Waaaay too serious for my rum addled brain. You could've said America is fucked up...I was just trying to tell BannedBos that he's a silly face.

[Awe]

Question: SWTOR 1 year later, how is it?

Free to play and still losing players ...

http://www.xfire.com/games/swtor/Sta..._Old_Republic/

The player numbers doubled after going free to play and in 2 weeks time it dropped with 50% already...

What does that mean: ... subscription based or free to p(l)ay: the game is simply not so good...

Seriously BenBos, can you please stop your frenzy with going into every possible non-WoW MMO thread and sh***ng on it on a daily basis? I get it that you are a huge WoW fan and I dont even plan to convince you out of your ways. Anyone can prefer whatever he wants and any reason he gets for liking this game more than others is credible. I know people saying WoW is best thing ever, I know people saying SWTOR is best thing ever, I know people saying GW2 is best thing ever, I know people saying EvE is best thing ever. And so on. And all of them are right on their own and you cant prove otherwise. If however you find fanboys of some game coming to your place and oozing bile on your favorite game, then please reconsider what you are doing. Becouse that is what you are doing and your posting history is a clear proof. Preaching how every non-WoW MMO is a piece of s*** and how WoW is best thing ever becouse *insert random irrelevant-for-many feature*.

[Forsedar]

Question: SWTOR 1 year later, how is it?

Free to play and still losing players ...

http://www.xfire.com/games/swtor/Sta..._Old_Republic/

The player numbers doubled after going free to play and in 2 weeks time it dropped with 50% already...

What does that mean: ... subscription based or free to p(l)ay: the game is simply not so good...

It was already said many times in multiple other threads that using Xfire as a credible source of information to judge player bases is ignorant at best. Heck, even if I looked at the graph on that site, it does not show the extreme decline you're talking about.

Not only is it around the holiday season, but this week and the week coming are MAJOR weeks for college students. Finals > Games. If you go look at the graphs of other games, you will see similar results.

[Rudol Von Stroheim]

Not a bad game.

Just not that good of a game.

And that's about my take on it. I actually got the Collector's Edition and not too long after got severely burnt out on it. They really should have went into a more action orientated game-play and I think that's what hurt it most. When you consider the Star Wars universe you think of agile Jedi, cunning Bounty Hunters, and then you go into a game little different from WoW concerning its core mechanics in which is nothing more than a dice roll with hit ranges.

For me it totally failed to deliver on what was likely the most critical front; combat.

I did by and large enjoy the story and they did a good job with animations, that helped to alleviate my frustrations but clearly not enough. Outside of that I realized I'd basically just be dropped into warzones(battlegrounds) and flashpoints(instances) that would result in nearly an identical experience to WoW save for a different skin job. I saw no point or reason in staying nor do I see one in returning at this time. If you didn't like it then, you still probably won't! Only hardcore Star Wars fans will prefer this over Warcraft and there's nothing wrong with that.

However for me, I'm nearly to the point of giving up on MMOs entirely. Even GW2, which I love to bits, can't keep me playing for long periods of time because I'm THAT BURNT OUT and can't muster up the excitement. Rift I've been attempting to get back into, again, failing to get those old feelings. So my perspective may not be the best for this genre in general lately. Hell, perhaps in gaming entirely. Only thing keeping me busy at all anymore is Black Ops II, funny enough. I've got Assassins Creed III virtually never played sitting next to me and I could care less!

[soulcrusher]

im thinking of picking this back up too. so if i start playing again. i have the game, my old chars etc. do i still need to pay a sub or is it now free? or do i need a sub to fully enjoy my chiss agent?

[Prag]

edit: this is not meant towards anyone in this thread. just a general post based on the 9 pages I read...

Nothing is free. If you aren't putting in a single dollar towards the game you don't really have much room to complain. In fact, you have less room to complain than the people who don't even play. Neither puts anything towards future development but at least the guy who doesn't even play it isn't eating up bandwidth.

F2P is a trial. Try it out, see if you like it. If you do, you should do something to encourage development.

[RoninaThorstone]

Nothing is free.

We all know that. And F2P is a payment method, not just a trial. Unfortunately, Bioware made the mistake in believing they could pass F2P off AS a trial.
That said, they have set it up so that as a PVPer you can do just about everything you want to do. Its really just a trial for PVErs.

[Kelimbror]

That said, they have set it up so that as a PVPer you can do just about everything you want to do. Its really just a trial for PVErs.

Except get gear reliably. Granted the authorization I got for my account for less than 350k, so that part is viable...but you can't do anything to increase your cap or rate of acquisition of comms...so there's that draw back.

Probably not enough to justify complaining since you don't have to pay anything. I'm actually looking forward to my sub lapsing, the 6 character slots, and some other things. I think I'll play the game more oddly enough.

[RoninaThorstone]

I think I'll play the game more oddly enough.

Me too.
I hate the feeling of having a subscription. Its like I feel forced to play lest I be wasting my money. Its a terrible feeling.
And since there's SO many games I haven't had time to play lately, I want to have the freedom to play each one without feeling "oh jeez. Only going to play swtor a little this month. What a waste"

[Kelimbror]

Me too.
I hate the feeling of having a subscription. Its like I feel forced to play lest I be wasting my money. Its a terrible feeling.
And since there's SO many games I haven't had time to play lately, I want to have the freedom to play each one without feeling "oh jeez. Only going to play swtor a little this month. What a waste"

Yup. Forced myself to do dailies on there for two weeks, even though I really wanted to play my steam games and admittedly my new level 90 in WoW. Now I log on every day just to check the GTN because I have to get rid of credits before I lapse. Once I'm not paying for it, and thus feeling like I need to do something with it or I wasted our money, I can be free to get on whenever I friggin please and enjoy the mess out of it.

[RoninaThorstone]

I can be free to get on whenever I friggin please and enjoy the mess out of it.

I have to finish leveling a bounty hunter by the 14th so I can focus on my character I care about.

I have a level 18 shadow with every Exp unlock, field respec, all bonus affection, 100% event gear (even bracers and belt), and a rakghoul crystal for 50. i plan on playing that character the RIGHT way. every datacron while leveling up, all the codex, all the bonus series, all the instances, everything.

I would never feel comfortable doing something like that with a subscription ticking because its always easier to go back and do those things at 50. But its not nearly as emotionally rewarding.

[Deleted]

Still would like more for guilds to do I and pre-made groups for competitive pvp. it's not bad but I'm not coming back just yet.

[RoninaThorstone]

Still would like more for guilds to do I and pre-made groups for competitive pvp. it's not bad but I'm not coming back just yet.

You can do premades. You just have to do ranked is all.
No pub stomping allowed.

[Edge-]

Nothing is free. If you aren't putting in a single dollar towards the game you don't really have much room to complain. In fact, you have less room to complain than the people who don't even play. Neither puts anything towards future development but at least the guy who doesn't even play it isn't eating up bandwidth.

Actually...it is. There are a number of MMO's I've played and not spent a single penny on. So for me, the experience is 100% free. They are making money off someone else, but that doesn't make my experience any less free.

And free players do have all the room to complain that they want. Without them, some F2P games would be near ghost towns while others would see a big drop in population. They help keep the games populated to improve the experience for other free players as well as paying players.

Not to mention, every free player is a potential paying player. Keep them happy enough, and you can make money off of them. Piss them off, and they leave. That's the opposite of the goal of F2P. The goal is to keep barriers as low as possible to get as many people to play as possible, not treat them as third class citizens and annoy them.

[anyaka21]

Actually...it is. There are a number of MMO's I've played and not spent a single penny on. So for me, the experience is 100% free. They are making money off someone else, but that doesn't make my experience any less free.

And free players do have all the room to complain that they want. Without them, some F2P games would be near ghost towns while others would see a big drop in population. They help keep the games populated to improve the experience for other free players as well as paying players.

Not to mention, every free player is a potential paying player. Keep them happy enough, and you can make money off of them. Piss them off, and they leave. That's the opposite of the goal of F2P. The goal is to keep barriers as low as possible to get as many people to play as possible, not treat them as third class citizens and annoy them.

I think you are mistaken. The goal is to get you hooked enough on the game so that you spend money. A free player that plans to spend no money is a waste of their resources. And while I agree that pissing off a potentially paying f2p player isn't a good thing. Though, personally, there are many f2p players - like yourself - who have no intention of ever spending any money at all. Pissing these players off about minor random crap like weather effects and that you can't get unlimited everything for all time for $5 that you wouldn't spend the money on anyways, no, that doesn't bother me.

[RoninaThorstone]

I think you are mistaken. The goal is to get you hooked enough on the game so that you spend money. A free player that plans to spend no money is a waste of their resources. And while I agree that pissing off a potentially paying f2p player isn't a good thing. Though, personally, there are many f2p players - like yourself - who have no intention of ever spending any money at all. Pissing these players off about minor random crap like weather effects and that you can't get unlimited everything for all time for $5 that you wouldn't spend the money on anyways, no, that doesn't bother me.

A free player who doesn't pay money is content for other players.

[Edge-]

A free player that plans to spend no money is a waste of their resources....Though, personally, there are many f2p players - like yourself - who have no intention of ever spending any money at all.

To response to these two points in general...

A free player is never a waste of resources in a F2P/freemium model. They help populate the world. They help improve the quality of life for others around them by affording more opportunities to interact with others. Without them, populations drop dramatically. Population size does have an affect on player enjoyment, so they are absolutely necessary as part of the whole experience.

And don't presume that I have never had any plans to spend money, especially when my post right above yours says otherwise.

For your information, I was thrilled at the F2P announcement and had planned to purchase a number of things from the cash shop. I like F2P games and I like supporting ones that I enjoy. SWTOR was a game I enjoyed, but didn't enjoy enough to purchase/pay a subscription (partially because of my opinion on how BW has handled it). However I did enjoy it enough to drop some cash in the cash shop every now and then.

That changed when they announced their cash shop setup and their guiding principles in the transition. I couldn't support a cash shop like that without being a hypocrite or feeling bad about it. However, as previously noted, I'm pleased with how they are responding to feedback and lifting the restrictions so and interested in supporting it a bit in some way.

[omghesbalance]

LOL this game was terrible


<Infracted, please post constructively>

[Argroth]

edit: this is not meant towards anyone in this thread. just a general post based on the 9 pages I read...

Nothing is free. If you aren't putting in a single dollar towards the game you don't really have much room to complain. In fact, you have less room to complain than the people who don't even play. Neither puts anything towards future development but at least the guy who doesn't even play it isn't eating up bandwidth.

F2P is a trial. Try it out, see if you like it. If you do, you should do something to encourage development.

I did pay for many many months, It didn't encourage them to take the right steps.

Now even when i come back to try it with frirnds (babysitting them mostly) Bioware still spits in my face by giving me a barely playable game.

As a F2P game it's shitty compared to ANY other F2P MMO. For that reason alone anyone has the right to complain about the F2P option. Bioware can't make a viablreF2P game and after a year even with a full subscription it is bare;y holding up as an MMO with all the glitches, limited options, stiff gameplay and lack of endgame content.