And Target just had a huge sale on 60-day cards . . . Hmmm.

If this game were Mass Effect Online or Dragon Age Online, it likely would have bombed. I know I wouldn't have given the game a second glance. However, one has to wonder if the Star Wars IP handcuffed development and design to the decaying carcass we were given. If Bioware had chosen one its original IPs (or the rumored Game of Thrones MMO), would it have allowed them to explore fresh MMO territory and implement innovative ideas?

I don't know. Maybe a game? You know, something to play? A game can get away with little-to-no story and still be enjoyable. A game with story and, you know, no game isn't much of a game. You have to be good at crafting? You mean collecting items and clicking buttons? That takes skill? Really? Huh. As for backwards thinking, emphasizing story over gameplay seems pretty backwards to me. And considering this is a Star Wars MMO that's widely viewed as disappointing, I would say that their thinking isn't the one that's backwards.

1. A new game engine. 2. A revamped combat system. 3. Some semblance of competence at any level, including: marketing, management, design, development, testing, and customer service.

I think it's more like; "It would take too much effort to produce, therefore Bioware won't bother." It's really a shame that the game's designers seemingly lacked the foresight to realize how small of a corner they were painting themselves into . . . My opinion at least. As for the OP's question, I would like to see a pilot/speeder class. Would it be that hard to create 50+ levels of planet-side quests for a space-based class? It's the last of the big iconic roles from the original movies . . . Unless you wanted to go with crime lord or something. Like a Lando/Jabba class? That would be interesting.

Huh. Outside of the idiotic retconning of The Promised Land, I liked Taris. The Rakghouls didn't bother me because they were so easy to kill. One well placed grenade or force sweep . . . Oh well. Hated: Ord Mantell: You can save innocent civilians or you can let them die. As a Republic soldier. And if you save them, a superior officer insults you. Right. Aren't we supposed to be the good guys? Not to mention Aric Jorgan and Corso Riggs are the two most annoying companions in the game. And if that wasn't bad enough, the next planet is . . . Coruscant: Like the above poster said, it's supposed to be this massive city-world and you spend all of your time in sewers and tunnels. No thanks. And this supposedly massive, overly-populated world feels like an empty museum of wax figures. It's no wonder none of my Pub characters never make it past 20. Nar Shadaa: Same as Coruscant with an added bonus; a planet of gambling and vice with no gambling or vice. Loved: Korriban: Beautiful, intimidating, red. Exactly what I would expect from the Sith. I'd like to see some more tombs and maybe some instructors beating and berating their acolytes, but . . .

I love the "I haven't experienced something so it must not exist" attitude.

1. It's Star Wars. 2. The crafting system - It's not perfect. I hate standing around waiting several minutes for my companion to craft the item I need. It's also not involving to not have my character be able to craft. I also don't like the inability to improve your chances of learning a new schematic from re-engineering something. But I still have fun crafting despite the time-consumption and frustration. (Here's an idea: When you don't get a new schematic, your chances improve by 5% with each re-engineered item. Then, when you do learn a new schematic, it drops back down to 20% or 10% or whatever.) 3. I . . . enjoy the space missions. Yeah, I know, I'm a horrible person. 4. There are some genuinely emotional and involving moments in the stories. 5. I'm kind of, sort of still having fun.

I cannot believe people are defending this decision and saying, "It's only $10!" Really? No, really? What's in this glorified expansion? What do we KNOW what's in it? A planet. And? We can level up some more. What else? Some new abilities. Is that it? Is that all we know? So, I'm supposed to spend $10 on something and I don't even know what I'm getting? Maybe we get new flashpoints. Maybe a new operation. Maybe some warzones and more on-rails space missions. So, it's only $10? For Christmas, I get a gift card to a restaurant. This restaurant is notorious for screwing up orders, serving food with filthy plates, allowing bugs everywhere, and treating its customers poorly. (Sometimes they serve food people enjoy. Some even love the food. Some come more for the atmosphere than the quality.) When I sit down, they tell me I can only order a hamburger; I won't know what's on it or be able to decide how it's cooked; maybe I'll get fries if they feel like it; it could be as big as the plate or smaller than the bun or as big as a nickel; and I have to pay $10. Cash. And my gift card is useless. How is that not a slap in the face? Well, go ahead and spend your $10 on your plate of mystery meat. I think I'll be skipping out on this restaurant. Again. Now what the hell am I going to do with this gift card? *EDITED* Because I thought the expansion cost $10 only if you pre-ordered as a subscriber. My point still stands that we won't know if Makeb will be worth $10 or $20.

So, you're saying the same people who are threatening to unsubscribe now are the same people who were threatening to unsubscribe a week ago, a month ago, and three months ago? And that somehow all of those people have remained subscribed yet keep repeating their threat to unsubscribe? Rightrightright. The Us vs. Them mentality. Where you lump everyone who disagrees with you into one singular entity rather than as a series of individuals who collectively came to similar conclusions. Makes sense. It's a totally logical way of thinking.

Some people don't play the game to please other people. It's strange, I know.

"No one cares." Really? You posted in this thread. So, that's a few people who care. If you didn't really care, you'd see this post and ignore it. This post is now 6-months old and 57 pages long. So, that's another few hundred people who care. If they didn't care, they'd just unsubscribe and not say a word. Bioware asks people why they're unsubscribing and just made a huge post saying the feedback in the forums is important to the developers. So, unsubscribers care, subscribers care, and the developers of the game care. Our definitions of "no one" appear to differ.

Good: The title crawl and John Williams score when you first start a character. An involving story for most classes. Developing emotional attachments to Mako, Kaliyo, Khem Val, T7, Qyzen-Fess, and Vette. The sound of a dozen lightsabers being lit as my group prepared to take down a world boss. I'm kind of, sort of still having fun. Enough fun, at least, to keep paying for a sub for the immediate future. Bad: Um . . . While I could provide a litany of the same complaints that have been repeated here and elsewhere ad nauseum, the primary problem I have is that it seems Bioware blundered blindly into a series of cascading failures of decision-making and game-design. How are they going to expand class stories? Will they be able to introduce new classes, races, or crew skills? Is it even possible to explore fresh design space with a stagnant, stifling game engine and on-rails, claustrophobic game-design? The modicum of success The Old Republic has achieved says more about the strength of the Star Wars brand than it does about the quality of the game. Special mention to fireworks, quickslot bars, Ord Mantell, Aric Jorgen, Coruscant, and, that whiny lkjhasdfer, Corso Riggs.

I bought a new computer (~$600) + game ($60) + gamecard ($30) + tax = ~ $700.

Stop. Stop blaming the customers. Stop blaming the people who played the game and didn't like it. This game has been a failure (so far) for a wide variety of reasons, none of which have been because of posts on a message board. Do you have any idea how ludicrous that sounds? Ninety percent of the people who have played the game have never read these forums. They've never read a negative comment or article. They've never seen or heard the doom and gloom on darthhater or Gamebreaker.tv or any other site. Nothing anyone said or did on these boards or anywhere else influenced their decision to buy, subscribe, or leave SWTOR. The vast majority of people who left the game did so either because they didn't like the game or as a direct result of decisions made by Bioware or EA. Yes, I hate the game. I will admit it. Hate. And I will use every opportunity to bash it here and elsewhere. I hate the game because I invested four years of hope, faith, and anticipation waiting for this game. I read articles, newsletters, and message boards. I watched cutscenes, promos, interviews, and playthroughs. Having never played an MMO, I picked up WoW in 2009 just to familiarize myself with the genre. I moved on to try LotRO, DCUO, and STO. My aging 10-year-old computer could barely play most of those games, so I bought a new computer and, at the same time, pre-ordered the game and bought a game card - almost $700. All in anticipation of SWTOR. All because I loved KotOR, Jade Empire, and Mass Effect. And I had faith that Bioware would do SWTOR right. They would take all of what those games did right and leave behind everything they did wrong. Without DA2 or ME3 yet to taint their resume, it seemed Bioware would pay off my faith and anticipation with a game worthy of years of my time and money. I lasted two weeks. I never made it past level 20. Four years of faith and anticipation plus a $700 investment . . . For what? A lazy, on-rails MMO straight out of 2005. A game built out of Elmer's Glue, balsa wood, a smoke-and-mirrors graphics engine, and a metric ton of false promises. If that doesn't give me the right to rail against this game . . . Welcome to the Internet! Where people express opinions different than yours!