EA/Bioware could have stripped the MMO from the game and had a great three part solo RPG using the content, the story is that good. The opposite is not true, however. If there was no VO story and everything else was the same, except for Wall of Text quests, the game would fail as an MMORPG. I think the problem for some is that while they might have been willing to pay the box fees for the story, the rest of it isn't worth $15/month. I took a break from Skyrim to play TOR, but since the story and RPG element is the only thing I find worth sticking around for, plus the fact that I estimate I have another two months worth of play to get out of Skyrim, it just makes more sense for me to cancel Tor and return to Skyrim. If I find myself in need of an RPG fix down the line and I'm between games, I can see myself resubscribing to TOR for a month to continue the RPG elements. However, this is not a game I would play for the things I play an MMO for.

The entire PVP system is buggy. Not only have I had wins not count for the quest, but I've had matches where I've been the one to advance most of the objectives, while getting a zero Objective score at the end. I can't believe they didn't get the level 50 Tier established with this update, but I guess they've got a lot of issues on their plate.

Many MMOs will be tempted to borrow from GW2's innovations, but they will do so in half measures and probably make a complete mess of it. The main reason we haven't seen GW2 launch yet is that they continue to tweak all elements of the game to make sure they support each other in a synergistic manner and make for an over all fun and positive experience. Whether it was influenced by long stated GW2 design discussions via Arenanet, or a coincidence, Bioware chose to use player scaling for Warfornt PvP. However, by using it in such a format, with out breaking people into level brackets, they just ended up with a bastardized system that doesn't do a whole lot to make PvP enjoyable for people at the low end of the curve or challenging for those at the higher end. I think it's out first example of what happens when other developers borrow something from GW2 out of context. Most people who have voiced a negative view of GW2 have also exhibited that their opinions often are not based on a factual understanding of the game. Success at making it all work is not guaranteed, but if they pull it off, which looks likely, it will be one of the most innovative MMOs in over half a decade. GW2 is already having an impact on other MMOs, even with release months away, as some lazy MMO design decisions that people might have tolerated as just more of the status quo, now start to look pretty horrible versus the alternatives Arenanet are offering up for GW2. It's almost a shame it's named Guild Wars 2, since being perceived as a sequel obviously brings mixed baggage and does not communicate the style or scope of the game for those who don't dig any further.

I agree completely and my mind is equally blown. The game desperately needed some incentive for playing the underdog faction, not a further penalty. Especially not a penalty to XP rates, which just further widens the gap. I'm not exaggerating when I say Empire wins about 80% of matches on my server. Sometimes I can go a two hour session and still not have a win! The XP and specifically the fact that the gap between winner and loser rewards was so narrow, was what kept me flinging myself into the grinder. Now, no more. This effects the dominant side as well, as there will be fewer players in the losing faction willing to queue up for such punishment. I almost re-rolled as Empire during Early Access. Now, it's just too late. I can't see writing off all the time spent so far to start all over. Canceled and done.

It wasn't a bandaid on a gaping hole, they amputated a leg to cure a minor flesh wound.

This nerf is a harbinger for bad things for this game, as it shows a complete disconnect from reality on the part of the developers. On my server, and I'm sure on many others, the Empire wins probably 80% of the matches. The only thing that has kept me and many other Republic players coming back for more has been the fact that the rewards for winning were not much higher than the rewards for losing. Not only is the incentive to participate gone, but the decision to nerf XP, rather than just valor/cash, now means that the winning side levels up much faster than the losing side. Given the fact that the game does NOT separate participants into level tiers, this gives the faster advancing side a huge advantage in the skills and talent tree advantages they can bring into a match. You don't make a change like this unless the sides are already properly balanced and even then it doesn't make too much sense. Given the large imbalances that already exist, this change will just make things much worse. When game developers make what appear to be extremely self destructive changes to the game this early on, you might as well just surrender to fate and move on to another game, because things only ever get worse.

The force pool is pretty limited. In the heat of a pitched battle, it's easy to run out well before the engagement is decided, which leaves me to spamming my no cost, puny light saber strike until I have enough to heal, or running away, if possible, then waiting forever for the "in combat" to end, so I can meditate and regain force. It's entirely possible that 30% is fine, but there should be an offset to balance the reduced healing rate; most appropriately a boost to force regen and/or force pool while the debuff is active. (The game has no equivalent of "mana potions". There is something wrong with PvP in a game where, as a healer, you frequently face the circumstance where when you are out of force and surrounded by foes, you actually want someone to quickly kill you, so you can respawn with a full force pool)!

30% was too harsh, first of all. When developers balance anything post launch by more than 5% to 10%, it shows a flaw in game design, ham handed balancing, a reactionary response to people moaning on the forums; or some combination of the three. It never, ever speaks well of an MMO developer to be ham handed when it comes to balance and nerfs. The second point I'd make is that if a skill, or a type of skill, is deemed overpowered, before nerfing it, an eye has to be cast as to what the balance of effected classes are on the whole, how the nerf will effect them and what may be done to offset the nerf to keep the effected classes balanced and fun. Healers were not over powered pre-nerf. One can argue that their healing was overpowered, but with healing taking a major nerf, most healing classes are now underpowered as a result. There should be something to offset the nerf. If my heals can't keep my team mates alive and I can't win 1 vs. 1 fights because my heals are too weak and my DPS too ineffectual, then what is the point of playing those classes in PvP? Keeping oneself alive for an extra 15 seconds or allowing one team mate to take three or four more hits before going down does not make playing a healer in PVP worthwhile. I think that when the trauma debuff is in place, to balance the 30% loss in healing per cast, your force pool and force regeneration rates should be boosted, so that a healer can heal the same amount as they used to be able to before running out of force, while the debuff means that it takes 30% more casts (and thus 30% more time) to accomplish. Even that may not be enough. Some combination of force regen boost and damage boost may be more warranted. In the end, if healers become easy to kill, can't keep team mates alive and have trouble killing anyone, what is the point? (No one likes nerfs, but extreme nerfs, when fine tuning should have been enough, signal problems that are worrisome).

Expensive re-specs are extremely archaic and really just further reinforce the fact that this game is only a minor evolution on outdated MMO design. Other games are either starting to allow cheap respecs back at main hubs with in the game, or even allowing free respecs in the field. Others at least allow multiple specs that can be swapped, even if changing an individual spec has cost associated with it. One of the random load screen game tips I've seen a few times has told me that I can easily respec by pressing a respec button in my skill tree screen. So, I'm guessing that until fairly recently in development, it was a lot more accessible than it is now. There is no reason for a modern MMO to enforce expensive respec costs on players.

I'm level 21 now and in addition to keeping my Light Saber up to date, I've been keeping key companions up to date on equipment mods as well. This has given me some experience with how Orange modifiables work in the game at a practical level. It's a very nice system and could circumvent the need for an appearance tab, if Bioware wished to do so. The current problem is that there is no ready way to duplicate a particular look in an Orange, modifiable version. If they could provide a mechanism for taking any non-modifiable piece of armor or clothing, strip all stats from it and give it the appropriate mod slots, we could have the same freedom of appearance an appearance tab would offer, using the mechanics mostly in game already. It could become a function of crafters, with some additional materials, to convert non-modifiable items into mod clean, slotted and modifiable versions. It could also be done as a cash sink, where you have to bring the item to an NPC and pay a fee for the service, based on the level of the item. Or, they could combine both options. You would basically be stripping the stats away to make an item into a "skin", to which appropriate mods could be added, just like with current Orange gear. Since you don't obtain any mods in the process, there is no subversion of the system of mod expense and availability in the game.

I dug up the confirmation email for entering the code. July 21, 2011 5:01 pm EST and I wasn't in the first wave. My account confirms 7.21.2011 for the code. It's pretty clear that the first day pre-orders are split into more than one wave, but I hope reports of people with later times/dates getting in are not true, or there is something seriously wrong here. It's also too bad that the starting zones were not designed to properly disperse players during the opening days. Most games would be able to push a wave every half hour and maintain good dispersal of characters. Too much time in TOR is spent in the first zone you encounter and they didn't even spread things out with proper use of quest hubs.