A budget that they already exceeded with content still on the table in need of completion. If you were the one paying the budget I bet you'd push for a release to make back some of your money while they finish what isn't done yet.

BioWare announced before release, at release, and again after release that things aren't how they want them for release and that they are working to get content that wasn't done in time for release finished and added as soon as possible while continuing to improve the quality of the game. They had a deadline that they had to stick to, the game had already been delayed a year from the first announced release date and they were under pressure from the fans and EA to get the game out on time. They opted to release the game with unfinished content not yet implemented rather than delay the game again. A decision that hasn't been viewed to favorably but given the circumstances, had they opted to delay the game again the game may have never released. Yes I would have prefered to see this content in the game at release, but they took the effort to acknowlege to everyone that things aren't yet done and that they will work to release the unfinished content as soon as possible in a series of post release updates. 1.2 won't be the last of the "this should have been in at launch" updates, chances are we will be at 1.5 before it is all said and done. Something tells me I'm not alone in the saying "I'll be fine with that." Yes I know there are a lot of people who like you are going to piss and moan about it not being in the game from the start, but if you whiners would stop and think for a moment and realize that BioWare actually told you from the start they have important parts of the game they still need to finished you'd probly join the rest of us in being perfectly ok with waiting.

I have seen a system in place in various other MMOs that handles texture quality filtering based on number of entities within rendering distance in all directions. Personally I find these systems more desirable and efficient than the Texture Atlas that BioWare is using. There are even some using threshold gradient, multiple zones, and scaling texture renders based on zone. The player ALWAYS renders at full detail (as determined by graphic settings) players near-by render at full detail if under control limit (5-10 near-bys within 5 meters) visible but not near-by players render reduced detail if under control limit (15-20 within 20 meters) distanced players render low detail (any beyond 20 meters) if near-by or visible exedes local control limit reduce detail appropriately based on number of entities.

I don't know what your complaining about, the texture detail on that screen shot is the same texture detail I see in game every day. The lighting is enhanced and shadows seem to be disabled, but the texture detail is the same.

Please, explain to me where I even once said early MMOs told you what to do? For that matter... explain to me when ANY game from that period straight up told you what to do? Back then it didn't matter what genre of game you were playing you spent a good amount of time wandering around aimlessly trying to find where you are supposed to be going or what you are supposed to be doing. Gaming didn't enter the "hardcore" design till more recent years, and many companies have been pushing back away from it since it caters only to a small group. Was making it so every game tells you exactly what to do at every moment holding your hand the whole time a good thing? No, but the implimentation of that by no means defines all games before as "hardcore". Also your argument about EQ encouraging grouping as making it hardcore, WRONG! MMOs are designed to encourage grouping its in the name even Massive MULTIPLAYER Online, without a design for grouping or a need for grouping the genre is hardly multiplayer. While more recent MMOs have been developed in a way that allows soloing, that doesn't dictate that older MMOs that required groups to do things were hardcore. I even said in my post that many of the changes that have happened to MMOs over the years were not the best decisions and honestly the genre would be better going back to some of the older designs.

Even in the early days of MMOs they were designed for casual play. They were just designed for a much more long term casual play than they are now. It was discovered that casual players felt punished by the excessive long term design, so developers began to shorten the grinds and make games simpler. Not all see this as a good direction though, there are even quite a few casuals who believe the changes in MMO design were far to drastic. You assumed I didn't play earlier MMOs an assumption in which you were mistaken. I've played MMOs for the better part of nearly 2 decades. I've watched how they have changed. They were always designed for casuals. When MMOs were just starting the design plan was "how can we extend this over months even years worth of play" which is how the high demand low reward system came into existance. The more they stretched the smaller the rewards became and higher the demand from the game got.

Totally not wrong at all... Infact YOU are the right type of player for an MMO. I don't understand why people don't understand MMOs are designed for casual players who just want to have fun. Not the hard core hit max asap and burn out on endgame players.

I've done this very same thing with other popular titles to cut back on download times... however... keep in mind that if he installs via disc he will have to patch from the start. While digital downloads sometimes are prepatched up to a certain point.

I have played Both well beyond 10, my Trooper is currently 30 and my Bounty Hunter is 28. And I honestly see no delay differences in any of the attacks, besides Mortar Volley and DFA. While DFA nolonger has its extra 2 hits it does still have a much shorter "set up" than Mortar Volley and as such hits sooner still. I spent much of the first month of release and my whole time in early access comparing the two classes and found the only skills that had any imbalance to them were DFA/Mortar Volley and Flamethrower/Pulse Cannon. All other imbalances are IMHO due to how the system handles each weapon. Troopers have Rifles and Assault Cannons while BH get Pistols. The system likley reads the weapons completely different and as such treats them differently, this could explain your alleged delays with other skills.

It kinda depends on the class you play... my IA is lightside and her class story isn't sickening at all thus far... there are some questionable things she's been asked to do but over all it's taken on a feeling of "I support the Empire, just not those giving the orders". Where as my Bounty Hunter has been neutral, and her story has taken the road of "I do the job how I feel it should be done, you just pay me." even when I take darkside options on her the story doesn't feel twisted or sickening in any way. On Republic the Trooper has a fairly interesting twist to how the story is portayed... if you go Lightside you more often than not are disobeying orders and for all intents an purposes are a rogue Trooper... but if you go darkside you are ruthless but "just following orders". The Smuggler dark side is just evil... you kill nearly all your contacts and make enemies of just about everyone in the known galaxy, not exactly the type of image you'd expect for a "hero of the republic"

1. Creates a differnt kind of imbalance, instead of an imbalance of total players you then have an imbalance of max level players. High Imp server with more Rep 50s than Imp 50s due to xp bonus for Reps. 2. That might help 3. Social Bonus... I can see this working as it doesn't have as direct of an impact as EXP bonus does. 4. questionable... 5. Indeed.. the Republic Pilot suit is just a recolor of the normal Pilot Suit and honestly... the regular one looks better too... that Red just works so much better than the Orange.

you completely miss the point. The goal isn't to gather players around Mailboxes and GTM terminals, it is to GET THEM OFF THEIR SHIPS! The simplest way to accomplish this goal is to limit the functionality of the ship to bare minimum, which is precisely what BioWare did. The only functions your ship provides are functions that are not provided by any other means. Thus for everything else you actually have to leave your ship and heaven forbid you run into another player when doing so.

I play both Rep and Imp and not once have I seen any imbalances regarding ability durations of cooldowns. I've seen where some class mirrors have skills altered in different ways such as the BH and RT with Flamethrower and Pulse Cannon, where Flamethrower has a smaller cone but applies a DoT occasionally. And the issue where before DFA hit 5 times while Mortar Volley only hit 3, but that one has been fixed as both now only hit 3 times. In no other classes have I seen any imbalanced skill mirrors what so ever. Smuggler Gunslinger to IA Sniper has a distinctive Rep over Imp imbalance across the board, but I believe this to be more related to how the system handles the weapons.

It actually does help to promote socialization in some way. If you could do everything from your ship, then you are pulled further into the mindset that you're playing a single player game. They limited the functionality of the ship to companion conversations, class story progression, travel, and space missions as a way to encourage players to socialize and not spend the whole game on their ship. Yes they could have put everything on the ship but they chose not to. It wasn't an oversight, and honestly, there is no reason to "fix it". As the saying goes, "don't fix what isn't broken" in this case, lack of mailbox or GTM terminals on ships, its not broken and they arn't needed. Now back on topic... YES! a quick travel direct to ship would be very helpfull.

It's just how the MMO community works when you have factions. There is often a strong pull to one side over the other, there is no real way to balance it. Forced server balances result in more issues than allowing the imbalances to continue ever will. When a new player joins a game they want to be able to pick any server and play any class they want without restrictions. Now, the forced balancing would prevent this... of course some would say "just pick a different server" but what happens when the new player has a particular server they are joining because of friends and guild-mates? You can't rightly tell them to pick a new server since they have a driving reason to be on the server they are trying to join. For the most part these imbalances only honestly affect the PvP community, and as such there is a solution, though not a perfect solution. Instanced cross server PvP. Basically, a population check is run and servers are paired up based on Rep/Imp populations, PvP matches will then consist of players across these server groupings giving a relativity evened out dispersion of Rep/Imp players. Of course this doesn't solve open world PvP of any kind though... but it does solve any instanced PvP issues regarding imbalances of factions. For open world PvP you will unfortunately just have to suck it up and deal with it. There is nothing that BioWare can do to solve this issue without creating an issues among the majority of the playerbase and potentially losing hundreds of thousands of subscribers overnight. Even adding insentives to pick one side over the other won't solve anything, if anything it will just throw the imbalance in the opposite direction.