Will anything actually retain customers?

"Who cares if it sucks it's Star Wars?"

I think this has been the Lucasfilm logo since 1984.

Agreed. The Phantom Menace wants to say hello!

In short: no.

Biggest hook I've ever seen was housing in UO. I even had comments from "Leilo" the CM at the time, when I posted pics on the old official forums. It kept people playing because if you unsubed your house would decay ( and all items inside it). It kept me an active sub for 10 years even tho I rarely played.

No. The genre is doomed.

The only solution would be to hand hold players from start to finish, passing out content as fast as people can absorb it one time and move on.....all for the price of less then a cup of coffee.

Simply impossible to accomplish and the unsatisfied, demanding more and more, are ending the genre.

That is what some game companies would like you to believe. It's the company line with some, but the truth is, some games do have good player reterntion based on good design.

Well, most say only two realms (same problem here), too much CC and class imbalance killed that game despite the superior PVP.

SWG had some of the worst bugs in the industry that continued to persist even to the games close. Add to that the fact that a themepark leveling system was added haphazardly long after launch, and that the game did not launch with vehicles or JTL and you pretty much sum up what was wrong with that game.

For its time, before WoW it was a powerhouse. In fact subs were increasing prior to the CU/NGE. The update killed the game, period.

Great and fun game, but the graphics are pretty poor. Even with great features those graphics wear on you after a while.

54 fundamental changes to the Warlock class since launch. 54. Thats more changes that most other games entire class structure combined. At one point I was relearning how to play my class every month. The absolute epitome of ridiculousness.

I think sandbox elements and customization options would appeal to the larger casual base. I have mentioned those specific items many time, and will not repeat them now.

End game will NOT retain customers IMO. Nor will it grow the base. It will only reduce the rate of loss temporarily until the new content is played out. Repeatable content is required.

Players need something to do, simply put.

War---Never played or heard of it.
SWG--Played until it was shut down. Would still be playing today if it was still running.
WoW--Never liked this game. reminded me to much of EQ2
COH- not played.
SWTOR- Struggled to keep playing. Bored with WZ's. Open World PvP for me would go a long ways to keep me interested in playing. Warzones ( in my Opinion) get boring, and repitive.

Who would that be?

We need more fluff. The little things keep players happy.