Why non-stop alt leveling will fail.

You can call the end game in swtor great if you want. Great for you.

However, the problem for me if I am going to be specific at release:

1. Not enough Warzones, and no choice to choose
2. No legacy clarification or implementations
3. No Custom U.I.
4. In game voice chat (helps with pvp/raids especially with randoms and you can see which name is speaking in game)
5. Not enough alien races, strange ones, seen in game or playable
6. Day/night cycles
7. NPC movement/routine
8. Event closer to release
9. Mini games (pazaak, swoop racing which is multiplayer)
10. Open world pvp
11. Crafting that did not require people of the same craft to buy and use items

I did not mention other things like open world space pvp, housing, or the quantity. However the point is, to have at least a few of all these things which greatly add to the MMO to make it feel much more expansive.

You might disagree that this should be at release, but in design swtor was meant to have illum working with 100s of players against 100s of players.

At the end of the day its what sustains swtor. If I happen to be a minority, and swtor succeed despite the rough launch, and the people who were bitter about the short comings of swtor either come back, or dont care but over all swtor succeeds then good for them. They will probably succeed. However, being on a pvp server, and seeing many people leave from our own guild was very disappointing and affected the game as well.

However, some of the things I mentioned will be in the game eventually, and the fact they did not implement them from the beginning hurt the game on my server at least, and definitely hurt the experience when dealing with imbalances, limited crafting, and limited pvp experiences.

I have never re-rolled and my guild is as active as ever (and we're on a Standard server). My anecdotal evidence just canceled your anecdotal evidence. Your move.

While you are it, please explain why 700,000 players would pay for a service they do not use.

You know what they say: Wish in one hand, you-know-what in the other, see which fills up first.

Because there never has been an MMO that launched with everything you listed there. EVER. And all the MMOs on the horizon won't either.

People's expectations have gone from unrealistic to completely ludicrous. You're just setting yourself up for disappointment.

50 cents a day lets you pick and choose what service you will avail yourself of.

I've actually met people who don't buy movies or books because they've seen them once, they're done. True story. They're out there.

However, the vast majority do buy movies and books. Why? To enjoy them again and again at their leisure. An MMO is no different. It also has a plot, storyline, climax and ending. To be enjoyed over and over again if you so wish.

The good thing is, with TOR, if you don't want to you don't have to. There's the typical endgame with just as much content at launch and being released since launch at a rate that almost exceeds RIFT, the MMO acclaimed for releasing more content in a short period of time after launch than any other MMO to date, including WoW.

Well, given it costs ridicu-cheap/day I just keep subbed but only actually play often.

I disagree about nothing to do at level 50, actually it is pretty standard you hit cap, do hard modes (heroics), gear up, raid (normal), raid (heroic) rinse and repeat. If that was all there is I would have quit after the second week - swtor offers an amazing story plus end game content, which guess what? Is going to get better, because new features are going to be implemented.

It is simple really, if you do not like the game, do not play it. Yes there are dead servers, but must say after playing WOW for 6 years, I ran in to a lot of dead servers, also there was not much of end game content in vanilla as well? Remember? Vanilla when you had to grind battle grounds and keep on grinding and grinding, no rated battlegrounds, no arenas. Now compare swtor to that.

I play often too.

Your opinion is noted. It is not however fact; merely an opinion. I happen to hold a very different opinion - I see no reason why playing alts can't be the focus of an MMO. Also, not everyone loved or loves WoW's endgame model of progression raiding to get successive tiny increases in equipment. You ought to stop assuming that is the only way or the best way to make MMOs; neither is true.

Why would anyone level multiple characters to max?

Well, why would someone spend 100 hours in a raid when they know the next raid'll bring new gear? Why pvp once you get your gear for pvp?

Is it repetitive? Sure, it's repetitive no matter what- because there's no way to make content that casuals will get to see an adequate amount of to be satisfied, while also having enough for those who play 16 hours a day to never run out- not to mention it'd be impossible to make that much content.

Levelling's just another repeat- but at least you can see all 8 stories while only really repeating each 'side' four times- unlike raids which you'll do 30 or 40 times or more for those who alt, do multiple difficulties, etc...

Except that this MMO was designed with the alt player in mind, just like Guild Wars was designed for the casual, non-MMO player in mind. Just because something has a label doesn't mean it can't be different from the norm.

So all MMOs should charge a monthly subscription fee? Because, well, that's what we expect from MMOs. There was a lot of information about the game prior to release, the two things that stuck out for me and kept my interest was that:
1) more storybased with differing main quests based on class.
2) replayability based on alt-rolling and the Legacy system.

That's what I expected because when a game is being developed that I might have an interest in playing, I try to learn as much about it as I can to see if it would be the game for me - one that I will enjoy playing and continue playing for years. If players don't do their research beforehand, the difference between expectations and what it actually in the game is not the developers' fault.

1) I don't PvP much until after I complete the PvE content I desire in any game, but sure, more is always better, and I do like to be able to have the choice of where I want to play. However, that can also be a drawback as one particular map becomes too popular, leaving the others desolate.

2) Possibly, but considering we don't start with level 50's, saving this type of content until after launch shouldn't be a problem. Players who just want to rush through to max level (skipping the majority of the content to do so, despite dropping at least $60 on the game) is not really the fault of the devs. Is it done in every MMO? Yes, but that doesn't mean this minority of gamer should be catered to when developing a game or a timeline for additional content.

3) Agreed. This should have been a launch feature, no doubt.

4) A nice addition, but by no means not necessary, and should not be required in a game. There are plenty of third party apps that can fulfill this purpose and I rather a game developer spend time and resources developing content, not a communication feature.

5) Future Updates. Could they have done a few at launch? Sure, but then we would have ragers in the forums demanding THEIR favorite race should have been in the game and not the ones chosen. Sometimes, it is OK for developers to hold back things for a future update to give gamers something else to look foward to. Look how long it took WoW to put playable Pandas in the game

6) By no means necessary or required. Guild Wars worked quite fine without it. I have played other games with it, that adds absolutely nothing to the game play. I personally don't need it. If it was a feature that changed the gameplay and content as it occurs, then that would something interesting to have, but other than that useless, especially when you throw different planets and space ships/stations into the mix.

7) same reasoning as #6. Works better in a single-player game, but I don't need it in my MMO.

8) Uhhmm, isn't the release a big enough event? No need to add anything else until the majority of the playerbase have settled into the game and their playstyle. Again, content should not be developed for the "rusher mentality" player. Guild Wars didn't add new content until 5-6 months after release.

9) Maybe. Again mini-games aren't for everybody and I don't think they are necessary at launch. After all, the point of starting a game is to play through the main content. Side content (not speaking of side quests, which I consider main content) can be saved for later on, again, once the bulk of the playerbase has settled into the main content.

10) Not a main PvPer, but I agree, since this is Republic vs. Empire, Open world PvP and RvR (both on PvP servers, natch) would have been nice to have at launch for the main PvP crowd.

11) Never been much of a crafter myself - usually too much time consumed for my likes to create stuff when I just want to be playing through the story and content.

BJ