Not having an already popular IP, low marketing budget, previously unknown developer, no established base of fans, or any other number of reasons that come with being an indie developer. The popularity of something doesn't always correspond to its quality. Firefly was cancelled yet CSI is still on the air.

Really? Rift's content has been coming steadily and it's been fairly polished. With 1.7 on the way, things are looking even better. Many serious raiding guilds are still working on T2 even though T3 is right around the corner. And sure, no game launches with all the things that its fans want. But it's not black and white. This game is missing large amounts of features that are standard in today's MMOs. Lacking a combat log is completely different from a toggle to hide your companion's helmet, for example. While they do deserve a lot of credit for fantastic voice acting and stories, their game mechanics, testing, UI, and engine teams don't have a lot to show for 6 years of development.

Rift shipped with modern day MMO features and was extremely stable and polished. All this with a tiny development team and a much smaller budget. SWTOR's launch feature set and lack of polish is completely inexcusable in today's market. Voice acting and story aside, if the game's current engine and mechanics were all they were able to come up with after 6 years of development, the future of this game looks incredibly dark.

Rather, Bioware needs to prove to many of us that they're worthy of the type of trust you're placing in them. The time for that chance was beta. Understand that these issues didn't come out of the void; many of us expressed them during beta and were completely ignored. Also understand that many of us "haters" actually enjoy the game immensely, but are also immensely frustrated. The world isn't black and white, nor is people's support for this game. There's a large portion of us who can enjoy the game and see fundamental, glaring flaws at the same time.

I'm completely in agreement. The fact that this wasn't a pre-release priority despite all the beta complaints just shows that Bioware doesn't understand this. They just don't get it. Making combat "responsive" isn't something that's added post-release. This is a design decision, not an afterthought. Furthermore, it's silly to vest any hope in a fix from a team that didn't even acknowledge this as an issue during development. Responsive gameplay is that far off their list of priorities. While a lot of people on this forum will be impressed with Bioware's ability to type hopeful words and put together an announcement, many of us who struggled with and pleaded with them through beta know firsthand that there's a huge gap between promises and results. This game is fun and shows a lot of promise, but there are huge, glaring, ugly organizational and management issues with the developer. And while I'm currently enjoying my time in the game, I'm under no illusion as to what the reality really is.

The irony in your post is awesome. It's even more hilarious that you don't see it.

And for the record, Esaru, I agree with a lot of what you wrote. I want this game to be good. However, let's look at why the deck is stacked against this game: EA's Track Record Warhammer was left to die. They didn't have the expertise to fix that game and when it became apparent that it couldn't be salvaged, they diverted its development team to SWTOR. The fate of SWTOR is in the same hands of the people who tried to save Warhammer, but ultimately couldn't. James Ohlen's Attitude James is incredibly smug and passive-aggressive. Look at the Eurogamer article that's been referenced many times on these forums. Gabe Amatangelo Doesn't Get PvP It's not that Ilum was poorly implemented; it was poorly designed. There's a difference. A good idea can have a poor implementation. A poor idea, regardless of its implementation, can never turn out well. Ilum's flaws demonstrate that Gabe simply doesn't understand the dynamic between player behavior, faction imbalances, and incentives. Broken/Missing Game Systems The fact that things like (but not limited to) unresponsive combat and low frame rate exist post-release are horrifying. These are things that should have been identified during the game's early design phase. Since they weren't addressed in the distant past, we can only assume that James Ohlen and his team of designers didn't view them as a priority. Furthermore, it demonstrates that they simply don't "get it." And this is worrying because any fixes being implemented by a team that doesn't "get it" is likely to fail again.

And the Bioware Defense Force arrives right on time!

I want this game to be good. However, let's look at why the deck is stacked against this game: EA's Track Record Warhammer was left to die. They didn't have the expertise to fix that game and when it became apparent that it couldn't be salvaged, they diverted its development team to SWTOR. The fate of SWTOR is in the same hands of the people who tried to save Warhammer, but ultimately couldn't. James Ohlen's Attitude James is incredibly smug and passive-aggressive. Look at the Eurogamer article that's been referenced many times on these forums. Gabe Amatangelo Doesn't Get PvP It's not that Ilum was poorly implemented; it was poorly designed. There's a difference. A good idea can have a poor implementation. A poor idea, regardless of its implementation, can never turn out well. Ilum's flaws demonstrate that Gabe simply doesn't understand the dynamic between player behavior, faction imbalances, and incentives. Broken/Missing Game Systems The fact that things like (but not limited to) unresponsive combat and low frame rate exist post-release are horrifying. These are things that should have been identified during the game's early design phase. Since they weren't addressed in the distant past, we can only assume that James Ohlen and his team of designers didn't view them as a priority. Furthermore, it demonstrates that they simply don't "get it." And this is worrying because any fixes being implemented by a team that doesn't "get it" are likely to fail again.

They didn't promise a fix this patch, but they did reassure us that at least some portion of the ability delay would be addressed this month (source). Since they haven't announced any other scheduled patches, many people assumed that the fix would be a part of 1.1.

I want this game to be good. However, let's look at why the deck is stacked against this game: EA's Track Record Warhammer was left to die. They didn't have the expertise to fix that game and when it became apparent that it couldn't be salvaged, they diverted its development team to SWTOR. The fate of SWTOR is in the same hands of the people who tried to save Warhammer, but ultimately couldn't. James Ohlen's Attitude James is incredibly smug and passive-aggressive. Look at the Eurogamer article that's been referenced many times on these forums. Gabe Amatangelo Doesn't Get PvP It's not that Ilum was poorly implemented; it was poorly designed. There's a difference. A good idea can have a poor implementation. A poor idea, regardless of its implementation, can never turn out well. Ilum's flaws demonstrate that Gabe simply doesn't understand the dynamic among player behavior, faction imbalances, and incentives. Broken/Missing Game Systems The fact that things like (but not limited to) unresponsive combat, static UI, and low frame rate exist post-release are horrifying. These are things that should have been identified during the game's early design phase. Since they weren't addressed in the distant past, we can only assume that James Ohlen and his team of designers didn't view them as a priority. Furthermore, it demonstrates that they simply don't "get it." And this is worrying because any fixes being implemented by a team that doesn't "get it" is likely to fail again.

I'm sure that the Bioware Defense Force is going to jump on you for this, but you have a very legitimate point. Especially if you work odd hours or live in a more distant time zone. Comp time is something that Blizzard readily handed out during WoW's early days. I think I racked up more than 20 days of time from Blizzard because of emergency patches and extended maintenance windows.

I know you're trying to find a silver lining in all this, and I hope you're right because I want this game to be good. However, let's look at why the deck is stacked against this game: EA's Track Record Warhammer was left to die. They didn't have the expertise to fix that game, and when it became apparent that it couldn't be salvaged, they diverted its development team to SWTOR. The fate of SWTOR is in the same hands of the people who tried to save Warhammer, but ultimately couldn't. James Ohlen's Attitude James is incredibly smug and passive-aggressive. Look at the Eurogamer article that's been referenced many times on these forums. Gabe Amatangelo Doesn't Get PvP It's not that Ilum was poorly implemented; it was poorly designed. There's a difference. A good idea can have a poor implementation. A poor idea, regardless of its implementation, can never turn out well. Ilum's flaws demonstrate that Gabe simply doesn't understand the dynamic between player behavior, faction imbalances, and incentives. Broken/Missing Game Systems The fact that things like (but not limited to) unresponsive combat, and low frame rate exist post-release are horrifying. These are things that should have been identified during the game's early design phase. Since they weren't addressed in the distant past, we can only assume that James Ohlen and his team of designers didn't view them as a priority. Furthermore, it demonstrates that they simply don't "get it." And this is worrying because any fixes being implemented by a team that doesn't "get it" is likely to fail again.

Trion's developers, communication, and CS are top notch. EA/Bioware could learn a lot from them. James and Greg's defensive and passive-aggressive attitudes aren't doing this game any favors.

Similarly, it's boring to hear this argument repeatedly. EA/Bioware either bit off far more than they could chew with this game or allocated their resources poorly. Other studios have released far more polished games at release. EA/Bioware has had the opportunity to watch other MMOs succeed and fail and to learn from their competitors' experiences. Instead, SWTOR is repeating many of them.