Criticism with Positive Ideas? Madness.

That's the entire point of Ilum, so yes you do. Don't like it? Don't go there. Think logically, then post.

Very well written and constructive post OP. I completely agree with your points (and frankly many of the suggested improvements on these boards). This game has a lot of potential but needs a lot of work if its going to withstand the test of time.

OP was excellent, ignore prepubescent trolls.

Posting of credentials was justified, people don't want to listen to someone who hasn't experienced the game's end game content giving their opinions on it. People who stated they "stopped reading after that" are merely demonstrating their own ignorance. Don't take it to heart.

A lot of good points were made, and I agree that while the levelling/story aspect of ToR beats any other MMO out there, the end-game is still highly unpolished. This is to be expected given it's a new game and Bioware has no MMO experience; hopefully they'll read this thread and take some of your suggestions to heart.

So there are a few thiings I would like to remark on:

1) I'm not really sure how I feel about the implication that the only thing that will keep the game alive are your suggested changes that, at least to me, cater or are mostly important to the high end player. I'm not suggesting that they aren't good ideas, just questioning their relevance to the average mmo player. I don't know what the average WoW player does in that game, but I wonder if 9 million or so people are all messing with their UI, mastering end game and raiding. I would think that the vast majority of those people are relatively casual. In which case it would seem more prudent for the devs to cater to the casuals that bring in the money, rather than the minority of elitist players.

2) Many people have suggested that your "credentials" make you not worth listening to. I disagree. For what you are talking about I think only folks that play at your level can really comment on them. I certainly can't. I only play games for fun. I try to do well, but I'm not gonna spend too much time mastering percentages and grinding to get the uber best stuff. So yea, your creds are important for this analysis, but they do not make you a "more important" customer. Like I said above, if there are more casuals, or carebears giving Bioware money, that should prob be their first priority. That isn't being a fanboy, that is just business.

3) Lastly, I am moderately annoyed by the implication that by playing at your level you are somehow above those that enjoy the game for story and gameplay, rather than future endgame and raiding content. I may not be as good as you, but just because I don't devote so much of my life to a game that in 3 weeks I have max leveled and destroyed most of the content doesn't make me less of a player, just a different one. If writing my thesis, doing field work, spending time withfriends and family, and enjoying things other than SWTOR keeps me from being "elite" that doesn't mean I should be held as second class. This attitude has kept me from WOW and if it becomes the prevailing attiude in this community I'll just roll back to more welcoming games.

Sorry about typos, no net and typing on my phone.

Nice post went through it and while a lot of things have been stated before it's never a bad thing to voice your opinion and share your view.
As much as the obnoxious rude fanboys try to make you believe.

It's a shame that a posts like this are getting flamed by these people.
First I thought it was trolling but no this is a part of the community.

Dota/WOW/CS communities tend to be more civil, it's a shame really.
It's a nice game it needs some tweaks as for the forum I doubt this will stop.

and that's perfectly fine, I intend to play my alt that way. however, Bioware needs to accommodate to both crowds .

But that's his point, Livespawn. The OP insinuated that they need to ignore the more casual crowd and focus on her specific issues to the exclusion of others because she is "uber." I agree that these are significant issues. If Hardmode is as accessible for Operations as it sounds, my semi-casual raiding guild will probably get into that content and I'd rather it was more interesting than it sounds presently.

That being said, I think what put most people off was the fact that "credentials" sounded more like a boast about how awesome she is at the game. If she had simply said "I've cleared the hardmode Eternity Vault and most of the hardmode Flashpoints," people would have been more willing to admit that what she's describing sound like real issues. Heck, many people agree on the UI issues, even the self-proclaimed "casuals who will never raid."

But the introductory tone, which I firmly believe was intended to be a counter to the inevitable "What do you know about endgame? No one has really gotten into it yet anyway" responses, came across as more insulting than I hope the OP was intending.

It's a common misapprehension among humans that all people are pretty much like ourselves. We tend to assume that what we enjoy and what motivates us are universally applicable. There is no reason end game couldn't be improved in many of the ways the OP suggested without damaging the experience of more casual players. Therefore, there is no need to imply that casual players are somehow less valuable or less significant.

Funny, it seemed to me from the first few pages (yes, I skipped the middle seven) that most people weer objecting, quite calmly and politely to the implication that they were somehow less significant as members of the community. I believe that the condemnation of people objecting to your wording (note: *not* your suggestions) as "fan boys" is quite a bit ruder than anything I read that was "dissenting" from your opinions.

I notice that it's okay when the haters are rude and obnoxious though....

I think divisive language in both camps needs to stop....I am starting with myself and think everyone should follow suit.

Sorry, didn't comment on this, just implied it. Yes, BW should work on developing for both groups, especially since they are putting endgame content in. Thus the OP is fully justified in addressing issues she sees.

I do have a question though, perhaps some folks here can clarify. I understand what mods are for, but I don't understand how they are fair and how the devs can keep the game balanced if mods make the game easier or faster for those that have them? It has been suggested that it is important to allow players to make the game theirs, but it sounds like that will give some folks an unfair advantage in PvP, server firsts, etc.

Perhaps BW can get around this by revamping the UI and providing a bit more personalization options. Thoughts anyone?

Very true post.

I think it's odd that the OP belittles casual players, when they're the lifeblood of the game. They're probably over 90% of the population. I'm not a hardcore raider, but I'm certainly a hardcore PvPer (solo PvPer, that is). Even I recognize that the top 5% of a game mean virtually nothing compared to the other 95%.

What's messed up is that I agree with most everything this person says. But he boasted, belittled others, and was rude in virtually every single post he made. Through all this, he demands apologies from people just because they didn't read every single one of his posts (true story, really, go back a ways and you can find it). I know that I would certainly leave this poster to his criticisms if he'd simply apologize for the way he treated other people who were being perfectly polite. But he refuses, so what can you do?

Ya, also at the start people were being really rude to the OP. But recently, it's been the OP attacking all of us who ask for him to apologize for being condescending and rude. He even admitted to being condescending and still won't apologize, he thinks it was justified -,.,-.