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Norsalith

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  1. No, it really is a lot when you take into consideration the amount of coding and testing it would require. Sorry, I myself did not really read through the OP, just glossed over it. The (lack of) format was giving me a headache so I did not try. Also, no idea if you are talking about PvP, PvE or both. -_-
  2. If bugs are enough to make you quit playing then you are not going to be any happier now. It is not as though the game is ever going to be bug free and they do take time to fix. (Meaning there may be times one would play an alt because their 'main' is unplayable to them.) Not really sure what you found 'world of warcraft-like' when the game launched. Get more creative. Think outside of the box to create new names. Or as someone said before, make use of accented characters. (Google 'accented characters' to learn how to type them or copy/paste if you must.) Two of my characters use an accented character because I really did not want to part with the name and it was taken after a server merge. (First come first serve, sigh.) Some names off the top of my head: Ro'Tith San'Dira Dânger'Mouse Etc Do you have to ask?
  3. The amount of people who misunderstand the term "Gambling" amazes me. Gambling requires a bet with the hopes of increasing your monetary gain in some form. When you buy a pack of cards for any TCG, you get a random assortment of cards. X common, X uncommon, chance at 1 rare. This is NOT considered gambling, and in the same way the containers are not considered gambling. (Despite how people wish to call it such.) You are buying a container that has a random loot table. You are not betting on an outcome in order to increase your wealth.
  4. I love how people keep mentioning a universal server rule. I myself was not aware of the case until I came across this thread. What does this tell you? That you should not rely on an unspoken "universal rule" to govern loot distributions. Anyone with standard common sense will roll greed for off-spec, credits, or companions. They will roll need on any item that is an immediate upgrade to what they currently have. This has been the defined 'proper group manners' since the early days of EverQuest in the very least. (For those that remember... FBSS groups.) However not everyone thinks with the same common sense, and with reason SWTOR makes it a little harder to define. Some people may consider companions a 'need' due to how often we use them. Sure, are companions are only useful to -me-, -myself- and -I-. But what if my mentality puts my companion's equipment and survivability on the same level as my main spec gear? I am not in the wrong for thinking this way and both parties are at fault for the lack of communication and clarification. The thread creator mentioned that s/he noted there were no rules mentioned at the start of the group or at any point. Why did s/he simply not ask if there was a preference? You will suffer similar problems when you are a pick-up' that gets thrown into a partial guild group. What if they are needing on companion gear and don't even think to consider that their PuG actually needs the gear? Different games generate different methods of acceptable loot practice. DCUO, it is not uncommon to get into a Duo or Alert and have one or two players rolling need on absolutely everything they are allowed to hit the button on. In WoW this practice is accepted at lower levels, but not tolerated very much in the higher level instances. Even in SWToR we are getting mixed responses. "Big deal, loot is plentiful." "Shame on you, you should know better!." these type of responses only indicates that SWToR has yet to fall into a comfort zone. -slightly sarcastic comment follows- Not to worry though, when the game goes Free to Play I am sure it will shift more towards "take everything you can," for a while.
  5. Actually unlocking Action Bars makes more sense to me than having to unlock chat or trades. You can just as easily claim either of those two options are 'necessary' (considering the chat limits include party). Imagine a group of new players trying to run an instance and co-ordinate or explain fights with a chat limitation in place. The point is a lot of the features 'restricted' to the Free to Play model can be seen as necessary. If we can all survive on 2 bars than it makes SENSE to limit a Free to Play player's access to a single bar. Does it mean I personally agree with it? No. But it DOES make sense from a business stand point. Others have pointed out that you can get around the "one bar" problem without paying anything, if you are willing to keep your power window open. It will not take the Free to Play players long to figure this out on their own. I would like someone to prove that a Free to Play player is at a disadvantage before we start assuming they will be.
  6. What do MMO players want? Aside from a golden crown, jeweled cloak, and a parade full of Darth floats in their name? The western world views Free to Play limitations differently than the Eastern world (which probably made the Free to Play micro transactions boom). But we still can't decide what is acceptable and what isn't in a micro transaction. If a company where to put cosmetic items on the store, people (Free to Play or Subscription) would complain that a non functional* item cost them real money. Yet if they start putting in items that affect the game play, such as gear that is better than the dropped BiS items, people continue to cause an uproar because the game now becomes a "Pay to Win" game. DCUO has some very annoying restrictions on their Free to Play accounts. Yet people still started playing it after it went F2P and made purchases. Yes the Free to Play system may not entice older players to return. Nothing short of full access for free would probably encourage them to "waste their time" after all. But Free to Play is designed to go after a different type of gamer. One who does not wish to spend 60+ on a game and then follow up with a subscription. These people don't tend to have a problem dropping 5$ here and there on the game for a perk or cosmetic item. These are the players that make Free to Play MMOs work in the first place. I have said it before, and I will say it many times over. There are a few things that could be done to suit the Western Free to Play model (two action bars). But the limitations they put in place are not as restrictive as some Free to Play games that exist. Is it one of the better ones? No, but it is not as close to the bottom of the barrel as people want to claim. *Termed as any item that gives you an in-game advantage through boosts to your stats, loot drops and so forth.
  7. Or the players who are unwilling to purchase more Action Bars can be creative and keep their Ability Window open while they are fighting...
  8. It affects the market, which affects me. Gold sellers often get their currency by robbing other players. These players may not necessarily be active anymore, but all this money which was considered 'out of circulation' is suddenly back in circulation. This fluctuates the value of the currency and raises prices a great deal. See above. A sudden fluctuation of currency in the economy will cause prices to raise. The problem is only the few who buy gold will be able to comfortably afford the prices (worst case scenario). For people who do not spend hours doing dailies, this will make it harder for them to get an item they want... because of the increased prices. Spam. Active sales pitches (aka harassment) from these gold 'salesmen'. Bots interfering with quests, rare spawns, instances, war-zones, etc. And most importantly, an increased interest in these gold sellers in hacking/scamming/phishing a players account. (And while you can easily say "they shouldn't be idiots" I can just as easily say "Because it's against the ToS, you don't need a 'game play disruption' reason".)
  9. The item you buy from the shop gives you a token, this is how it reads (Sith as an example): Sith Quantity: 1 Requires Level 10 Use: Applies the selected unlock to your Player Character or to your account. Unlocks this species as a choice for all classes at character creation. The one you buy from the Cartel shop can be used at character level 10 (legacy needs to be unlocked, but does not need to be level 10) and unlocks the species to use in character creation. Once you unlock your legacy the species will show up as unlocked. The other ways to unlock the races are: paying 1.5 million credits OR getting that race to level 50.
  10. Someone has to pay real currency in order to trade the item for credits to someone else. So the point of paying real currency is to get the items into the market in the first place. Or have I misunderstood the question?
  11. Right now people are twisting the term 'gambling' to suit their own needs. You are not purchasing the boxes/bags (whatever) with the intent of a chance to increase your monetary Wealth. You are simply buying an item with a random loot table.
  12. Incorrect, gambling requires some monetary value in return. The bags, in effect, have no equal monetary value. You cannot cash them in for x amount of real world currency. So in a legal point of view it is not gambling. We pay $15 to play the game. We 'rent' our characters and the server space. We 'rent' that space to improve our characters and enjoy the game. However this 'service' includes the 'chance' to obtain items. In other words gambling is, by your view point, a service we pay for while playing the game. Just because it is not as clear cut as buying the lock boxes, which does guarantee some item(s) of value equaling or surpassing the value of what you payed, does not mean it does not fall into your definition. Then again, I have to wonder at my sanity as I am trying to debate with someone who uses 'smilies' in their arguments.
  13. Alright, so in this situation your definition of gambling is paying real currency for a 'chance' at an item you want. We pay 15$ a month for a 'chance' at a particular item we want from HMs, raids, and REing items. By your standards the game itself should be a gamble. The RNG involved means we are paying 15$ but are not guaranteed the drops we desire. The loot bags have a loot table. Some items are undoubtedly going to have a lower chance of spawning than others. But the bag is no different than a player buying a Flashpoint Loot pass. In fact it is the exact same due to the above statement that our subscription could 'technically' be considered gambling due tot he RNG nature of loot drops. I guess if we are going to consider the loot bags as gambling, we need to consider every other RNG aspect of the game in the same light so long as we have to pay.
  14. ..... You are complaining about cosmetic fluff? Complaining that in addition to the normal perks you get for being a subscriber (as in your game play will not change in anyway once it goes F2P if you currently (and continue) to subscribe) you 'only' get 500 cartel coins a month? Right now we don't get any kind of a monthly credit allowance, so it is a perk to continue subscribing after the game goes F2P. Not a cheat, or a rip off, a perk. A 'thank you'. But people will see it as they wish. For some reason folks get pissed off over cosmetic fluff that in no way affects game play. People on Tera went haywire when permanent bathing suits were up on the store when the in-game event ones were temporary. Everyone wants the cool fluff for free or no work. No mater what someone is going to complain, and do so very very loudly. I wish they'd use some thought in their complaints instead of just foaming at the mouth and typing what ever string of words enters their mind.
  15. Praising a game's good points is not necessarily being a 'fanboy' of the game. And would be rather key to let those of us know what you actually think would work. The problem that comes up, again and again, is the fault of the players and not the game mechanics itself. A lot of players like the lack of responsibility that comes with DPSing, and so MMO games will ALWAYS have a surplus of them. They have a need to be 'top' of the chart, something you rarely do when you are tanking or healing. To be honest, I'd like to see classic UO come back... but the type of person that plays MMOs today make it impossible. Trying new things can (and has) been the downfall of MMOs in the past. The only way to remove this issue with LFG ques is to remove roles all together. But this does not necessarily work well. Think GW2, running the instance with a group of thieves is possible but slow and sometimes very painful. There will be a few 'elite' players who can still do it quickly without a problem, but as a whole the "No Role" concept simply does not work out flawlessly in this game. (Don't mistake this for bashing GW2, I think it is an enjoyable game.) A lot of the big MMO gaming companies do keep an eye on new projects. Elder Scrolls Online, for example, promises a no class type of game play. But the question remains if it will require you to fill a certain roll if instances/group zones exist. If there are no roles to 'fill' the next question is 'how well does it work'. If a company were to stumble upon the solution, I can almost promise that other MMOs would adopt the solution in some way as quickly as possible. (Mimicry is the greatest form of flattery after all). But instead of removing roles, why not simply 'opt' a larger group (slightly harder instance) and allow more DPS into said group? For example if we have 2 tanks and 2 healers in que, but 9 dps, you will have 5 people sitting out until the next tank and healer que up. But if the system were to place 4 dps in the group (making it a group of 6) you would only have 1 dps sitting out. The problem would be coding such a system. The problem would be adjusting current flashpoints. The problem would be balancing loot to compensate for more players. (Same amount of loot but more players never ends well.) Quite honestly my solution is this; Get more people to play as tanks/healers and que up.
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