Gamescom Interview with Jeff Hickman about the future of SWTOR

I agree with you, with ONE thing to add...

For C. ... this waiting bought them about 4 months, with about 3 more with the "Promise of Makeb" (they should name a Lightsaber like this and sell it BoL at event vendor). That`s about 7 months worth of subs, still. Time is money in this game


Without a solid fact, all we have are theories or opinions. Logic can often make opinions turn into facts, too. Like the doomsayers of yesterday and prophets of today about F2P. Like the "Improved Communication". Like the 2011 people that were saying this game lacks end-game content. List can go on a bit longer, but you got the point.

I concede that I am presenting opinion based on conjecture, because that`s what I AM doing (I still lack the means to travel to the future). But I will not concede that EA is not a greedy Company that is looking to nickle and dime its players.. with EVERY opportunity. And lacking an important enough change, we can only reach the same outcome. And Bioware Austin is looking more and more like Mythic Entertainment.

Unfortunetly for the second group, there seems to be a whole lot more of the first group. Certainly considering where we started.

Unless something can be done to help some of the first group find enjoyement here, the second will become more and more affected. Thats why the first group becomes vocal. Most are probably still here because they want this game to succeed.

Its a sad state if the dynamics of MMO evolution are going from 2 million boxes sold, to just north of 500k subs in a very short time.

people who sub to this game when its free to play should get the best gear much easier then a free player, or why would I waste my money if it doesn't give me an upper hand?

I've played many MMOs over the years.

I play several MMOs currently. I play the ones I enjoy. The ones I no longer enjoy I no longer play.

If/when I no longer enjoy this game, I will stop playing it. Simple as that.

That is my choice to make. Others get to make their choices.

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You and people like you, are the reason that gamers get ripped off more and more every year.

Id like to see the look on your boss' face when you walk into work on Monday morning having just told the gaming community that a "big chunk" expansion was going to be chargeable, before any official announcements....
Of course he is going to say its undecided doohhh.... any kind of potential hot potato is going to get a "undecided, or were looking into that" statement... you can bet your bottom dollar those kind of decisions were made even beofre the content was penciled in.. otherwise their business plan would be based around maybes and speculative assumtions... with nothing solid going forward... oohh wait a minute

Well said, Evensong. People these days really are NEVER happy. They're spoiled, they whine constantly, and are never satisfied. People expect too much, too fast, and have no idea what the process is. It's disgusting. I'm not even level 50 yet. Took a break from the game when I hit 25 playing since launch, then came back to the game two months ago and I only recently broke 30. I'm enjoying the game, every aspect of it besides space missions because I'll only play a rail shooter on a console for a quick rush.

The fact is, I have a social life and social responsibilities. TOR players need to get lives of their own so the game doesn't hurt their feelings so much.

Agree with you 100%.

Yip generally agree, we all like a whine at times.. I am guilty for sure, but finding fault isn't necessarily a bad thing, it just needs to be given fair considertion before being ripped to shreds in a flame war on the forums... if BEAWARE were taking the game and the players seriously, they would should also be considering what us whiners and White Knights are saying.... hopefully they are, but when I read some of the statements that major players in the games design and evolution have said it does make me wonder if they really do consider the players opinions.

My taker on launch was that it was generally pretty good, the content, the story, the VO looked pretty decent and enjoyable. Engame will always take time to not just materialise but mature and I saw no need to rush to get to 50, but some did and maybe that's their playstyle, nowt wrong with that.... but there has to be a point where a barrier comes down and players have to wait, prepare and try out other aspects of the game in readyness for the next installment, while the developers get that stuff ready and polished... except those "next" installments just dont seem to be materialising all that quickly and what has been coming out has been fairly mundane.. a WZ, a server transfer, a male Group Finder.... nothing really that substantial and much of it bug ridden with the need for m4, 5,6 patches to get right, not really the polish I come to expect from BW and JH makes reference to the patching ewtc being his responsibility.. hardly something I would like to own up to at the moment
Lets be honest any new MMO, if they are looking to really cement themselves in the industry (forget WoW or any other competitor for a second) needs to be able to hit the ground running, not be constantly looking back at what if's and should we of.. unfortunately thats where SWTOR for me fails and it could be leadership, it could be creative deficiency or it could be the players expectations of a game carrying the weight of a heavy IP.... maybe its all 3.
But when I look back at launch I now only remember the furore of the masses in relation to the the games performance, its dumbed down graphics, the lack of basic ingame features, its exploitable areas and its bugs... all the good stuff seems to have been lost in all the other issues that materialised which is a shame but sadly a fact.
Gamers only stomach such issues, delays and poor communication surrounding future content for so long then they drift.. and unfortunately SWTOR's sub base has drifted at an alarming rate already, not because of ..." the $15.99 is a real barrier for many of the players" like JH thinks.. paint over the cracks all you like but the cracks will always be there.

The F2P decision, though feared by many to be the devil incarnate, doesnt necessarily mean its going to be... its down to the developers and the management to incorporate the model carefully to try and avoid the P2W hooks.. except JH has already laid claim to the thinking around placing gear into a cashop to enable the F2P to be on a level par with "normal" players.. so where is the line in the sand between a "normal" player and a F2P, that's my only real concern going forward.