Bioware/EA Question: Will there be further class story content in the forseeable futu

I love this game. The class stories are my favourite aspect (well, alongside crafting) and I still have three classes whose stories I haven't finished. If, by the time I have finished those class stories, there is no sight of any new class story material during the next year or two, then I will have to seriously consider letting my sub lapse until that changes.

You're definitely are not alone. I love the story aspects as much as anyone. I'm just trying to keep a level head on it, and realize how time consuming it is to tailor 8 different storylines...vs a single/dual story. Sure they could do it for 8...if the community wanted to wait a year or two.

This community simply cant be that patient.

Ftrom a business standpoint, it seems customers expect content..and they want it as fast as they can get it. The subs you would lose for a game that sat stagnant for a year or more saying "class stories..coming soon!" would dwarf any losses they are going to take by still giving Story...just not individually tailored to each class.

I'm going on a limb here, but I think people are over reacting to "class" story..versus story. I believe we will still be addressed, and references to our actions prior will make us feel engrossed in the new story. Thats just my opinion, and I might be full of crap at the end of the day...but bioware does story games. I have no reason to doubt I'm going to get decent story with RotHC.

I do understand the "alt" factor, and that we arent going to have new twists each time we use a different character to run this stuff...but what can you do? It cant give everything to everyone.


How much time is the community willing to give bioware to develop 8 different story arcs without stamping their feet? Ok to keep grinding those same dailies and WZ's we have right now for the next 18-24 months so they can do this?

We both know that would not fly.

BioWare is taking a wrong direction with the exclusion of class stories in The Rise of the Hutt Cartel, but they have erred with their implementation of class stories as they currently stand. In game now, class story content is like a pyramid: large amounts of content at the beginning and trailing off as you approach level cap. In a game which has a clear focus on leveling alts, given systems such as Legacy, it would be far more prudent to reverse the implementation so that content becomes more unique as you level. Such a design encourages customers to create more characters and extends the playability of the game. With the upcoming expansion, BioWare has missed an enormous opportunity to encourage players to level alts within the new zone as each character per faction will have the same story.

What sets this game apart from all other MMOs is the quality of the leveling experience, and that was only a result of the quality of the storytelling experience. Every player's primary complaint with leveling alts is the repeated world quests, and BioWare's pyramid of class story content only exacerbates the problem. Furthermore, expansions should make the player base want to revisit old content, usually because there is a new class to explore the leveling process. BioWare has the unique opportunity with their game, to encourage us to revisit old content without creating new classes. They can simply entice us with new story content for the existing classes, but we would have to level through the existing content to get there. BioWare, please do not keep missing the unique opportunities provided by your game!

I seriously doubt they would stop one of their main selling points of the game. More then likely, they will continue the stories...just NOT NOW. Folks need to take a step back, and think about something here....

Why would BW hire all these class writers, just to do 3 Chapters worth of story and leave it at that? Don't you think, that is kinda strange?

Theres plenty of story to be had for our classes, just relax and wait and if you can't do that and be patient then I dunno what to tell you.

It's possible some of us may be Chicken Littles in this regard, but given the large number of staff changes at BioWare, shifting priorities with free to play and the Cartel Market, and the first major content expansion excluding specific class content, it is foreseeable for players to be concerned about BioWare's current priorities with the game. What might be incredibly informative for the player base at this point around the one-year anniversary of the game, is a statement of goals and priorities from lead developers such as James Ohlen to let us know the direction of a game that has seen some triumphs, setbacks, and significant changes over its first year in existence.

Its a $10 expansion, don't you think it would make more sense for class stories to be continued through a much bigger expansion that would cost $30-50 which could include a whole number of things, gear, companions, planets, etc? To be honest, this little expansion could very well be just something to hold everyone over so that they can continue to work on a much bigger one.

I desperately hope that you are right! This is the first content expansion of this kind for the game, and the question of whether it is a small expansion to be followed by larger ones or an example of what we can expect in expansions for this game that is now free to play is a very significant one! I truly hope for the former but fear the latter.

Eh. I'm rarely one to try to apply trends from other games to the game I'm discussing, but as far as LotR:O goes, they've been quite successful in releasing "expansions" of many sizes. EA seems to be blind to a great deal of things, but they definitely keep a watchful eye on financial trends. The model works for LotR:O, so I wouldn't be surprised if SW:TOR followed suit.

I have never read them saying "No" to class stories ever. In fact a few months ago when one person was asked about it , after the 6 week update cycle was announced , they replied that class stories wouldn't be in the 6 week cycle and that they would take longer to produce. I will try find a link but it was months ago. It might have been by that German interviewer from the forums , don't know his name either.

Anyways my opinion is that they should carry on class stories if possible. Of course that might take awhile and would probably be a fully fledged boxed expansion , i should imagine.

Cheers,

BadOrb.

I'm just saying it makes sense, you could think of this expansion as filler content(if you watch Anime) before it goes and continues with the story of the character and all that. A sort of break if you will between the story to give the viewer something else to look at.