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Mercurial_Harpy

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  1. The relentless trash-talking aside, I doubt my efforts to gently corral this thread back on topic will be successful, but what the hell... I just watched the Gamerbreaker.tv segment, and I'm SO glad they covered this topic, Kudos to ZH for getting traction on this issue of class stories, which have BEEN an issue for over a year and a thorn in the side of many players. The folks at Gamebreaker said it best; Class Story was THE stand-out part of the game, and now it's irrelevant. It's just plain sad. It's time. It's time for Bioware and EA to address this out of respect to the community at large and the subscribers that have supported this game since Beta. And NOT in some comment out of the side of someone's mouth at a Cantina tour, or in some interview on another website that they can disavow later. The (since fired) writers have stated previously that subsequent chapters have been written. We deserve to know why "Your Saga" isn't going to continue when it was clearly meant to. Enough with the silence, which results in threads like this. It's tiresome two years in, and it ultimately strains credulity. * * *
  2. I think people still harp on the removal of class story (and Bioware's staunch refusal to officially confirm it & explain the reasoning behind it by a dev post to the community) because those who enjoyed the Class Story as the most interesting part of the game feel seriously short-changed. Many of these players, myself included, feel that a majority of the class stories have serious loose ends that will never be tied up. Not to mention the limbo status of these stories seriously affects the Meta story. For me, it kinds feels like when a show I really liked gets canceled for reasons other than the quality of the show; that feeling of "Crap, I just wasted my time giving a damn about these characters, and it all came to naught." It especially sucks that we know the chapters have been written, but we'll never see them implemented. That's the real rub, IMHO, and what's angered me more than anything. Does that mean SWTOR is a bad game? Not at all. Bioware has found a profitable dynamic in micrtotransactions, and that will keep the game chugging along. For those who raid & pvp, the absence of story isn't going to break it for them. But nerd-raging aside, if paying players still want to voice their displeasure with the abandonment of (what was described at launch as) one of the most important pillars of the game, so be it. Especially since Bioware chooses to remain silent on the matter. I re-subbed for GSF, and was underwhelmed. Since the datamining discussed in other threads seems to suggest we're not going to see Class Story or even Companion Story updates in the next year or so, I just don't see the reason to keep paying. *shrug*. Sucks, but the game we ended up with, while not bad, just isn't what it could have been. And yes, that still irks some people. ***
  3. I'm interested to see what "content" Bioware plans for this game after 2.6; The Dread Masters arc is finished, they've rolled out the PVP Space stuff. Someone else put this more succinctly in another thread, but my fear throughout this discussion has been that all the stuff they've rolled out over the last 2 years was prepped a long time ago, and likely meant to be rolled out long before it was. Bioware is reaching the end of that pool of content after stretching it out as long as they possibly could. So what now? What's the roadmap for 2014? A Flashpoint or Raid here and there? Maybe a new PVP map? Naturally more Cartel market items. Two years in, and no major expansion that progresses the meta? (Not talking about Oricron or Makeb; those were content bubbles for 1 xpac chopped up over a year that did nothing to advance the meta). I believe this is where scrapping story will bite them in the @ss. From 1-50, the game is designed to connect you to your character's unique story. After that, you are dumped into a generic all-purpose faction story line with ill-fitting (and at times absurd) dialogue choices. And while some have disagreed, I still submit that many of the class stories have loose ends that should have been tied up at least a year ago. Limbo sucks, even in an MMO. Despite the vitriol that gets directed at Bioware, they aren't stupid. They know players want more story, that's a given. But for whatever reason, money or manpower, they've abandoned it. Which is a shame. They can't erase the fact that SWTOR was built on the pillar of story, which sets every player up for disappointment once they reach 50. I totally understand their issues in keeping up with previous choices creating too many outcomes. But turning your toon into a generic "adventurer" where your past is irrelevant isn't the answer. There has to be some middle ground. The tragically underused companions could help fill in the gaps. I'm just not sure EA or Bioware has the will to do it. It's easier to push re-skins on the Cartel Market. In the mean time, I've had 2 guilds dissolve and all those folks leave the game, many of them unhappy that class stories have been shelved for the foreseeable future. I'll always hope that they rectify this. But I'm not holding my breath.
  4. I think the fact that Bioware has one guy responsible for responding to PR-related player concerns on the forums, with no support to be expected when that one guy is away, speaks volumes as to where the players are on the company's priority list when communication is concerned. This is NOT an indictment of Eric, mind you; I'm sure he does what he can with the tools allotted to him. If they cared in the least, someone would have responded by now. Just sayin...
  5. I find it very interesting (or telling, depending on your preference) that no one official from Bioware, forum mods or devs, has responded to any of the 5-6 threads asking for input in over 2 weeks. Not even the ubiquitous "tone it down, folks" finger shaking we usually see. After what happened with the class reps and the PR fiasco that followed, I seriously doubt a dialogue with unhappy players will be forthcoming, even if their griping is justified. I've said it in other threads, but I'm getting a "this is all we got, love it or leave it" vibe from EA/Bioware. Sorry state of affairs.
  6. So very much this. I spent a lot of time trying to decide if EA/Bioware didn't care about customer service issues regarding this game, or if they just don't have the manpower to rectify them. I've settled on it's probably a bit of both. EA clearly doesn't care about customer retention, and due to that, they haven't staffed enough employees at Bioware to implement fixes or address customer service issues in a timely manner. I mean, not pushing fixes that are making the game unplayable barely qualifies as maintenance mode. Having this much extended downtime for a patch with no support for the many people having trouble downloading it is game-breaking for these players. It's also why many of them have or will move on to games whose parent company still gives a d@mn about keeping the game going. This was an amazing game with tremendous potential, but dreadful mismanagement can kill anything, even Star Wars. * * *
  7. That "SWTOR will last for decades" quote was from an interview granted prior to launch. It actually highlights one of the biggest problems with the game as is; it just never lived up to expectations, reasonable or unreasonable. To be fair, some of the endless b*tching on the General forums is over minor stuff. But it's pretty clear at this point that EA is either unwilling or unable to address some of the major issues that keep cropping up. Here's a short list; to be sure, there is more depending on who you talk to: Engine optimization Consistent and serious lag in WZs, Fleet and daily areas, regardless of your rig Stealth discontinuation of Class Story, when some of the stories were obviously meant to be continued Generic, awkward dialogue options for all classes Over-reliance on creating items for the Cartel Market rather than playable content regurgitated content billed as "new" (difficulty modes for current Ops, FPs and the "new" PvP system) broken Codex entries since launch ineffective customer service I can't help but get the feeling that EA (it's not really Bioware anymore & hasn't been for some time) is purely in lifeboat mode, trying to make as much money back as they can. If the parent company isn't willing to invest what is necessary to improve it, then it's a lost cause. They just pulled the plug on Warhammer after 8 years, and Star Wars license or not, EA will do the same to SWTOR if their balance sheet supports the move. I think of what this game could have been, and it's a tragedy. But it seems silly to hold on to what isn't there. Maybe one day, EA will get its act together, but I won't hold my breath. * * *
  8. There's got to be some reason Bioware doesn't want to resurrect this event, and it's got nothing to do with lore. Players have been asking for it's return for over a year. Maybe the graphics involved when one player spreads the virus to others put a load on the servers and with the new "super servers," it's too much. Or they got too many complaints about other players standing on Fleet infecting other players. Personally, I thought this was the best part of the event. It was hilarious. Besides, they could easily explain it with Czerka (as someone already pointed out), or with the Macrobinoculars quest; I believe you run into rackghouls during it. I have the green light-saber crystal from the event on my sorc. I've seen maybe one other on fleet in a year. Come on, Bioware, throw us a bone. * * *
  9. ^^^^^^^ So very much this. Glad I'm not alone in thinking this. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of breaks in logic in the Inquisitor story. I heard somewhere that it underwent extensive revisions just prior to beta release, and that Chapter 3 was essentially scrapped and re-written to the mess that it is today. But given the original racial choices for the SI, and dialogue choices if you play a Twi'lek (I have both Human and Twi'lek Inq), the "cannon" SI is almost certainly an alien. To wit, Lord Kallig is almost certainly not. There was thread after thread on the forums at launch that went to great pains to explain how Lord Kallig's family interbred with alien slaves to produce the SI. The only explanation that makes sense, and simplest, is that Kallig is lying to you when he says you are "family." SI Story Spoilers, do not click if you haven't played through. That said, it's pretty ironic that Malgus, in his defeat, got pretty much exactly what he wanted. Life in the Empire after Makeb is certainly easier for an Alien than it was before. Of course, that's mainly because the Empire is losing at the beginning of Makeb, and their primary purpose is filling their ranks rather than equal treatment under Imperial Law. In playing the IA story through as a Chiss, even as the only official alien "ally" of the Empire, you still pretty much catch relentless crap for being a Chiss. In any case, it will be interesting to see how the new Alien initiatives play out in future expansions for the Empire. * * *
  10. Pretty much everything you said, Tatile. It's really indicative of a massive disconnect between the people who developed the stories, and the People In Charge (PIC) now. The is very little continuity in how everyone's Chapter 3 ends, and how your character ends up on Makeb. I'd imagine there will be less so going forward unless the PIC get serious and fix the class story plot holes. I'm not an idiot, I understand that asking Bioware to produce full Chapters 4-5-6 is asking too much of them at this point. However, despite the seriously reduced means at their disposal and that they are hell-bent on doing group content and group content only, they did say in the Seattle Cantina tour that they were hoping to "improve" class specific responses, so that gives me a little hope. My issue throughout all of this is that some of the class stories end needing further closure. Even if they can't do full chapters, it's not unreasonable to ask that, if they really want to wrap up class stories, that they actually wrap them up. There are ways to do this other than full chapter quests. I'm having a hard time figuring out if Bioware knows how to fix things and just don't want to, or if they really are in a bind and need help. Hell, I have some ideas... * * *
  11. I didn't really mind Makeb. I ran it twice on 2 Imp toons but I'm struggling with my Trooper. There are parts of the planet that are so annoying (endless trash mobs with high-agro range), I am considering just leveling via PvP and wrapping up the faction story as quickly as possible. Personally, if Bioware wants to "wrap up" class stories, that's fine with me. The problem is 1. They didn't make it clear from the outset that they were closed story lines (because they weren't, obviously) and 2. Many of the stories have loose ends. I think what a lot of folks are hoping for in this thread is that EA/Bioware realizes the error they've made regarding class story and choose to release another chapter (or 1/2 a chapter, whatever) that ties up some or most of the loose story ends (Agent, Warrior, JK, come immediately to mind). I don't think that's too much to ask. Let's say for instance, they don't want to do full chapters. They could certainly send each class a datacron or holo vid. There are ways to do it. EA just has to want to. Never mind an official response on the matter, which is yet to be seen... * * *
  12. If it were that simple, there wouldn't be a 10 page thread with almost 100 responses.
  13. Really? The only quote I read from the Cantina Tour was Class Stories are not in the cards right now, BUT they are focusing on group story content. They have yet to explain why this is. That is what we want dialogue on. Even if the answer is "because we're not telling you," we would like this thread addressed by someone at EA/Bioware. * * *
  14. Respectfully, I disagree. EA/Bioware seems to get into the most trouble when they remain vague and silent on an obvious issue. This qualifies in my mind as an "obvious" issue, as there are multiple threads about it. There have been many instances (server transfer issues, Cartel Market story cubes, War Zone exploits, and the ever-popular graphics/clipping issues with CM gear) where Bioware was silent on the issue for a week or two, then the community pretty much forced them to address said issues. In fact, more than once in this game, both the devs and forum moderators have had to do a public "mea culpa" along the lines of "We're sorry we haven't been communicating properly or frequently; things will change going forward." Also, if the forums posters are any indication, they've gotten an uptick in cancellations due to discontinuation of class story; that's sure to get their attention. I think many of the players posting in this thread would be happy with "We hear you; we'll be clarifying our position on class story in upcoming announcements." Even if it is in the time frame of the dreaded EA/Bioware "Soon™" Even if that gets us "We aren't releasing story now, but we're re-visiting the possibility in future updates," I'd say that's a plus. Dialogue is important. They need to have it with the players for the game to continue successfully. * * *
  15. I seriously doubt that Developers actually polled a bunch of players and they said "Oh, class stories? YUCK. Get rid of them! We want generic missions fighting as a faceless Imperial/Republic hero, all with identical dialogue!" Really? No, I think not. A "State of the Game" is quite a bit overdue from Daniel Erickson, plus they should be discussing Fall/Winter content (*cough cough*), and I mean more than leaving the forum cleanup to the moderators. Again. I'm in agreement with ZH that this is a big issue and deserves a comment from the Devs either way. If EA/Bioware ~was~ looking to throw us a bone, I think they could conceivably stick a story quest or two in the upcoming content pushes. We know they have it. Or give us a plausible explanation as to why they're letting class stories die out. * * *
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