Hey Bioware: I am sure your dev plate is totally full, but I was thinking it might be a lot of fun to play a new class of character. Here are a couple I thought would be really cool: Imperial commando - one of the advanced class options or end-game options might be to become a member of the Imperial Guard. Maybe they could have a melee option? Republic SIS - A nice balance to the Imperial agent. I, of course, leave the creative to you guys. I just thought it would be fun to see some new class options.

I know I suffer from OCD:D, but I think a simple legacy perk would be to allow explored areas on planets (“mapped”) to be sharable between your characters. So if I take the time to explore and “map” all of Tython, then the next character starts with him map already filled in. I think it should only be for planets that are completely explored, but that’s just me. Maybe you could require every planet to be explored, I don’t know. Is there a title that comes along with that?

I opted for the ASUS G73SW and have suffered no performance problems. However, it was an expensive toy 18 months ago when I picked it up. If price is not an option, I would see what ASUS has produced recently. The only problem I’ve encountered is the heat. I purchased one of those cooling laptop pads with fans in it and this has helped somewhat, but it still gets hot. Just my .02!

Bioware asked me to move this here: I’ve decided to make this post as positive as possible. There is no need to “tell off” anyone (except maybe the board at EA). I’m not that kind of person. That does not mean, however, that there will not be parts of this post you disagree with or are possible offended by, but remember this is just one person’s opinion. Value it for what you paid for it. I have some suspicions about what is going on at Bioware, and why I believe this game is not being setup for success. I am also very frustrated with this game right now. The only way I know to express my frustration is in dollars and by posting for Bioware to read. To begin, let me say I loved the concept of this game and I have always enjoyed Bioware titles. I am one of the older gamers (43) who play, and I have always had to balance personal, professional and free time. I’ve played MMOs for a while, but usually stick to one for a long time so I’ve not played as many as others. For instance, I’ve not played WoW or EQ, but I have played UO, SWG, LoTRO, and now SWToR. I always struggled spending too much time playing and not enough time balanced, so this will be a good thing for me. I have a lot of free time right now, so I’ve spent a lot of time on the SWToR servers and I liked what I saw at the beginning. I do like the storyline approach. Very clever and it really sucks you into the game! I was also never much of a PvPer until I played SWToR. But now that’s changed! I enjoyed the warzones immensely! What Bioware came up with is very fun. That is not to say that there could not be improvements of one kind or another, but I do not have the experience with PvP to understand what those could be. So way to go, Bioware! Original concept is great and I enjoyed what I played. If I may offer one creative critique: I think the general consensus is, as it is for me personally, that the Empire storylines are much more enjoyable than the Republic. I played both sides and all classes. However, storylines for Jedi warrior and Trooper are very bland. No real plot twists and the end for the Jedi warrior is almost implausible. (really?) I kept waiting for the trooper storyline to throw me a plot twist, but it was just...predictable. Just my opinion, however, I’m sure others enjoy them very much. I never finished the smuggler or other jedi storyline. They just could not keep me entertained that long. Now let me move on to my suspicions about Bioware. I was not aware that EA had purchased them until recently. It does not matter how old that news is, but it does affect their ability to sustain what has always made them unique. This creates a problem for Bioware and might have ultimately affected my decision to purchase this game. In my opinion, EA has destroyed every PC game company it has purchased. Since they are public, they worry about stock price, and in a gaming management environment that means churning out as many titles as possible to keep sales strong. Public companies do not have the luxury of operating like private companies do, and EA is a prime example of this. The development life cycle for a PC title vs. a console creates an environment that is untenable for management and shareholders alike. This is also why we’ve seen so much consolidation in the gamer industry and a move away from longer more involved video games that appeal to PC gamers to shorter games with more “wow” to appeal to console owners. They’ve substituted content for online access and push for more and more games rather than quality storyline. Bioware has always been an exception to that rule, and this is one of the reasons I’ve always stuck with them. Decisions we’ve seen recently at Bioware, surrounding the SWToR game, give me pause to believe that this is changing for them. Since the original storyline has been produced, there is little noise coming from developers about new storyline and extending character’s levels. You see quotes from EA exec’s about underestimating the gamer’s ability to “consume” the game. In other words, you guys are “freaks” and since we have no experience with this game model, we have to apologize to our shareholders that creative storyline takes too long to produce and we’ve already started losing customers because of it. So instead of letting Bioware do what they do best, they frame cost cutting measures and wrap it up with a bow and call it “free character transfers.” The bow around the transfer wrapping is “group finder!” Group finder would have worked perfectly on my perfectly populated server. There was no need to consolidate before rolling it out. However, they can offer fewer servers now and make a move by the end of the year to shut many of them down as I’m sure they will do. We’ve all heard of the layoffs at Bioware, and I am confident that this is the tip of the iceberg. My gut feel is EA is doing what it does best. Bioware will not be able to produce much in the way of quality content from here on out, but will try to add a lot of “whiz-bangs” to keep stringing people along for as long as possible. I am sure they will eventually get to more storyline, but it will be much farther in the future than they originally intended. The simple fact that they have fewer developers means that is a reality regardless of EA management. EA either does not understand a PC gamer (at least as far as I’m concerned), or does and could care less anyway. EA and Bioware are not a good match and I fear for the future of Bioware because of this. Now my personal frustrations. I’ve tried and tried the new overpopulated servers. I’ve started characters on all of them, and to no avail. There are simply too many people. I’ve played MMOs in the past, but I’ve never seen this many people on one server fighting over resource nodes, content, and massing all in one area. I take that back, the bank at UO reminds me of the fleets here. It always lagged my computer down to molasses speed and I was fortunate most days to get into the bank and get back out. When thieves could pick pocket at the bank I was out of luck, because I lagged so bad I never saw the guy until it was too late! Aww, the good ole days! Also, I know it is summer time, but the inane dribble that surfaces on the fleet is truly annoying at the best and downright insulting at worst. I’ve had to turn my computer off and log out just to shut off the nonsense. It is truly nonsense. I know the kids are out of school right now, but it just seems really bad. The age difference must be a factor. Not to mention the fact that two default chat channels are not enough. They should have thought through that decision before character transfer. I know you can create more channels, but the people looking for group and trying to sell or do anything in general chat are out of luck. I see flashes of messages go by that look interesting and then it is simply lost. Also, what is going on with group finder? On these new servers it seems like I should be able to get fp groups fairly quickly. I used to be able to when it was first released, but is seems as if no one uses it now. Recently, I’ve been queued on one for over an hour and cannot get a group together. Maybe I have something deselected. Ultimately, it does not matter as I am leaving. I just find it ironic as this was one of the reasons Bioware used to justify the server transfers. To add to the problems they’ve created (and there are more problems than are listed here) by throwing so many people together, you now have no concept of camaraderie on a server. I knew plenty of people outside of my guild circle on my old server. I enjoyed PvPing with them. I knew their style and how they thought. Many of us were a cohesive unit when we played together. Now, that’s simply erased. It does not matter that you can simply transfer to the same server, it is gone! The ability to play together with people you enjoy, chat with them between instances, and enjoy the game together has been eradicated by population overload. I don’t care that you can group together, finding them is much more difficult and wading through the masses makes this un-enjoyable. I simply cannot get over this one fact: Bioware, you have overloaded your servers to what end I cannot imagine. It simply cannot be to save money nor can it be for group finder. As I said before it would have worked perfectly on my server. The decision does not make sense unless there is something else in play we do not see (see previous paragraph). No one else seems to voice their opinion about it, but I will. I think it was a mistake. All in all, I’ve found this to be an enjoyable game until recently, but the future looks dim at best. I know I’m a pessimist about EA and have been for years as I have watched them destroy game content, company after company. They are truly abysmal at what they do and should probably think of looking for a Corporate Development officer who is also a gamer or at least a few folks on the board who have played PC games in the past. Enough flaming – I hope Bioware stays strong! Maybe you guys can find a way out of this, and I hope you do for your loyal fans. I just cannot be one of them anymore. Having said what I need to say, I will now retire my lightsaber and set down my sniper rifle. I will go pick up my two year-old and play Halo with my 8 year-old! Good luck you guys and may you find enjoyment in this game! If not, don’t waste you money or time – find something else to do!

I’ve decided to make this post as positive as possible. There is not need to “tell off” anyone (except maybe the board at EA). I’m not that kind of person. That does not mean, however, that there will not be parts of this post you disagree with or are possible offended by, but remember this is just one person’s opinion. Value it for what you paid for it. I have some suspicions about what is going on at Bioware, and why I believe this game is not being setup for success. I am also very frustrated with this game right now. The only way I know to express my frustration is in dollars and by posting for Bioware to read. To begin, let me say I loved the concept of this game and I have always enjoyed Bioware titles. I am one of the older gamers (43) who play, and I have always had to balance personal, professional and free time. I’ve played MMOs for a while, but usually stick to one for a long time so I’ve not played as many as others. For instance, I’ve not played WoW or EQ, but I have played UO, SWG, LoTRO, and now SWToR. I always struggled spending too much time playing and not enough time balanced, so this will be a good thing for me. I have a lot of free time right now, so I’ve spent a lot of time on the SWToR servers and I liked what I saw at the beginning. I do like the storyline approach. Very clever and it really sucks you into the game! I was also never much of a PvPer until I played SWToR. But now that’s changed! I enjoyed the warzones immensely! What Bioware came up with is very fun. That is not to say that there could not be improvements of one kind or another, but I do not have the experience with PvP to understand what those could be. So way to go, Bioware! Original concept is great and I enjoyed what I played. If I may offer one creative critique: I think the general consensus is, as it is for me personally, that the Empire storylines are much more enjoyable than the Republic. I played both sides and all classes. However, storylines for Jedi warrior and Trooper are very bland. No real plot twists and the end for the Jedi warrior is almost implausible. (really?) I kept waiting for the trooper storyline to throw me a plot twist, but it was just...predictable. Just my opinion, however, I’m sure others enjoy them very much. I never finished the smuggler or other jedi storyline. They just could not keep me entertained that long. Now let me move on to my suspicions about Bioware. I was not aware that EA had purchased them until recently. It does not matter how old that news is, but it does affect their ability to sustain what has always made them unique. This creates a problem for Bioware and might have ultimately affected my decision to purchase this game. In my opinion, EA has destroyed every PC game company it has purchased. Since they are public, they worry about stock price, and in a gaming management environment that means churning out as many titles as possible to keep sales strong. Public companies do not have the luxury of operating like private companies do, and EA is a prime example of this. The development life cycle for a PC title vs. a console creates an environment that is untenable for management and shareholders alike. This is also why we’ve seen so much consolidation in the gamer industry and a move away from longer more involved video games that appeal to PC gamers to shorter games with more “wow” to appeal to console owners. They’ve substituted content for online access and push for more and more games rather than quality storyline. Bioware has always been an exception to that rule, and this is one of the reasons I’ve always stuck with them. Decisions we’ve seen recently at Bioware, surrounding the SWToR game, give me pause to believe that this is changing for them. Since the originally storyline has been produced, there is little noise coming from developers about new storyline and extending character’s levels. You see quotes from EA exec’s about underestimating the gamer’s ability to “consume” the game. In other words, you guys are “freaks” and since we have no experience with this game model, we have to apologize to our shareholders that creative storyline takes too long to produce and we’ve already started losing customers because of it. So instead of letting Bioware do what they do best, they frame cost cutting measures and wrap it up with a bow and call it “free character transfers.” The bow around the transfer wrapping is “group finder!” Group finder would have worked perfectly on my perfectly populated server. There was no need to consolidate before rolling it out. However, they can offer fewer servers now and make a move by the end of the year to shut many of them down as I’m sure they will do. We’ve all heard of the layoffs at Bioware, and I am confident that this is the tip of the iceberg. My gut feel is EA is doing what it does best. Bioware will not be able to produce much in the way of quality content from here on out, but will try to add a lot of “whiz-bangs” to keep stringing people along for as long as possible. I am sure they will eventually get to more storyline, but it will be much farther in the future than they originally intended. The simple fact that they have fewer developers means that is a reality regardless of EA management. EA either does not understand a PC gamer (at least as far as I’m concerned), or does and could care less anyway. EA and Bioware are not a good match and I fear for the future of Bioware because of this. Now my personal frustrations. I’ve tried and tried the new overpopulated servers. I’ve started characters on all of them, and to no avail. There are simply too many people. I’ve played MMOs in the past, but I’ve never seen this many people on one server fighting over resource nodes, content, and massing all in one area. I take that back, the bank at UO reminds me of the fleets here. It always lagged my computer down to molasses speed and I was fortunate most days to get into the bank and get back out. When thieves could pick pocket at the bank I was out of luck, because I lagged so bad I never saw the guy until it was too late! Aww, the good ole days! Also, I know it is summer time, but the inane dribble that surfaces on the fleet is truly annoying at the best and downright insulting at worst. I’ve had to turn my computer off and log out just to shut off the nonsense. It is truly nonsense. I know the kids are out of school right now, but it just seems really bad. The age difference must be a factor. Not to mention the fact that two default chat channels are not enough. They should have thought through that decision before character transfer. I know you can create more channels, but the people looking for group and trying to sell or do anything in general chat are out of luck. I see flashes of messages go by that look interesting and then it is simply lost. Also, what is going on with group finder? On these new servers it seems like I should be able to get fp groups fairly quickly. I used to be able to when it was first released, but is seems as if no one uses it now. Recently, I’ve been queued on one for over an hour and cannot get a group together. Maybe I have something deselected. Ultimately, it does not matter as I am leaving. I just find it ironic as this was one of the reasons Bioware used to justify the server transfers. To add to the problems they’ve created (and there are more problems than are listed here) by throwing so many people together, you now have no concept of camaraderie on a server. I knew plenty of people outside of my guild circle on my old server. I enjoyed PvPing with them. I knew their style and how they thought. Many of us were a cohesive unit when we played together. Now, that’s simply erased. It does not matter that you can simply transfer to the same server, it is gone! The ability to play together with people you enjoy, chat with them between instances, and enjoy the game together has been eradicated by population overload. I don’t care that you can group together, finding them is much more difficult and wading through the masses makes this un-enjoyable. I simply cannot get over this one fact: Bioware, you have overloaded your servers to what end I cannot imagine. It simply cannot be to save money nor can it be for group finder. As I said before it would have worked perfectly on my server. The decision does not make sense unless there is something else in play we do not see (see previous paragraph). No one else seems to voice their opinion about it, but I will. I think it was a mistake. All in all, I’ve found this to be an enjoyable game until recently, but the future looks dim at best. I know I’m a pessimist about EA and have been for years as I have watched them destroy game content, company after company. They are truly abysmal at what they do and should probably think of looking for a Corporate Development officer who is also a gamer or at least a few folks on the board who have played PC games in the past. Enough flaming – I hope Bioware stays strong! Maybe you guys can find a way out of this, and I hope you do for your loyal fans. I just cannot be one of them anymore. Having said what I need to say, I will now retire my lightsaber and set down my sniper rifle. I will go pick up my two year-old and play Halo with my 8 year-old! Good luck you guys and may you find enjoyment in this game! If not, don’t waste you money or time – find something else to do!

What a fun way to start a post! I am, however, having a serious problem with these server transfers. I felt like I was on a moderately populated server. I could play warzones with people I knew, find groups for flash points, was a part of an active guild. Now – nothing! Everyone is gone! Before I transferred, I started a new character on the server I was to transfer to and was overwhelmed. I know it’s silly, but where have all my mates gone? Why did we do this again? Are there any servers left with moderate population? I’m happy to start over and try a different class, but I can't seem to play long on these servers with dense population. I'm not sure why, but it does cause me a problem. Maybe I'm getting too old for this! THANKS! (Oh and please take this with a grain of sand - no complaints here, just curious!)

Thank you for taking the time to write this up. It was informative and thorough. I enjoyed reading it and a few of your other write-ups.