To all those demanding for more story content...

I do? The horizontal/vertical comment was related to this (sorry for not properly quoting it):
Creating minigames such as these is horizontal expansion - they exist alongside other content, often being available from very early on, and do not depend on each other. You don't have to complete five pet battles to take parts in a swoop race, or win a holo-chess tournament to get to play pazaak. There's no sense of progression from one minigame to another. Sometimes each minigame might have its own progression, but it's very shallow. The existing minigame, space missions, has basically five different levels (from no upgrades to grades 1, 3, 5 and 7) and even then you don't progress through them by doing space missions but rather by playing the actual game.

Storylines can be both horizontal and vertical content. They're horizontal if they involve the creation of a new class that has its own story for the existing levels in the game. SW:TOR is unique in that it does have different storylines for each class; most MMORPGs have at most one storyline per faction, and sometimes not even that. However, there's also the issue of limited options for creating new and interesting classes, as noted in my earlier post.

Storylines are vertical if they continue the stories for existing classes. The upcoming Rise of the Hutt Cartel expansion does this. You have to complete chapters 0-3 before you can get into RotHC, which is chapter 4. This allows you to use your existing characters on which you've already spent tens or hundreds of hours of time and that have developed a personality (if you're a role-player).

I'm not saying that there should not be new classes, if they can be made different and interesting. Personally, I like the story content either way. My argument was that I'll rather keep and expand the long and involved progression through the main game than have a dozen new mini-games with little or no progression.

And as a side note:
I was actually writing said post while you wrote yours, so I hadn't seen it yet.

Horizontal (deriving from the word horizon—from left to right) suggests progression on a linear, structured path. For instance, us players right now have been given content from 1-50. Giving us more of the same by, for instance, adding 5 more levels , only EXTENDS said content, thus branding it as an horizontal approach to game development.

Verticality (which has an upwards connotation) denotes a building on top of what already exists, like raising a skyscraper. Adding mini-games and new systems would not extend the game, but build upon it.

Get it?

Which is completely in contrast to as to how the terms are generally used in most MMO's, where vertical progression indicates the expanding difference between players (whether that be gear wise, level-wise through expansions, etc) and horizontal progression indicates addition of content whilst maintaining the same level on players (e.g. addition of gear with minimal vertical stat increase, addition of new content for the same level, etc).

Well, if that's true then it's just one of the many MMO tropes which make little to no sense.

It seems we use different definitions for those words, which is why I tried to explain what I meant. I can't find any official definitions right now, so let's forget those for a moment.

I disagree that minigames would build upon the main game. At best there's a tenuous connection. With pet battles I guess you mean battles fought with the vanity pets, much like pokemon? (As opposed to companions.) Those are just eyecandy in the main game. In swoop racing we could, umm, race with the speeders we have? Except they're not really swoop bikes, and again the connection is purely aesthetical. Do we even have anything pazaak-related in the game that players can interact with in any way?

To truly build upon the existing game, you'd have to make the player character's stats, equipment and/or skills relevant somehow. It could be something where you have to destroy targets within a limited time, or defend an outpost against ever more difficult waves of enemies. It could incorporate platformer elements like some of the datacrons on city planets. But if your character could be replaced with a dummy, I won't call it building upon the existing game.

I couldn't care less if new classes never come. I want story content for the class I already play!
I couldn't care less if new operations never come. I want story content for the class I already play!
I couldn't care less if new planets never come. I want story content for the class I already play!
I couldn't care less if new levels never come. I want story content for the class I already play!
I couldn't care less if new warzones never come. I want story content for the class I already play!

it's not really a switch since this was probably planned from launch. Remember Makeb was originally supposed to come out in the first year.

They haven't said they are never doing class stories again. just not with Makeb.

The "player base" isn't demanding more story...several people are, not the whole base. I don't care if we ever get more "stoty" - stories end.

Personally I don't think it was, certainly they may have realised it was going to be hard to deliver 8 class stories, and that would have become clearer and clearer once the game went Live.

But personally I doubt such a decision was taken until after 1.2 went Live at the earliest, it was from then that they started genuinely preparing for F2P (changing Makeb from a content patch to an adventure pack etc.).

Umm, what we already have failed, and failed hard. Doing more of the same and expecting a different result.... well, there's an old analogy about that.

Story content is nice, but has clearly shown it is not a viable alternative to actual MMO gameplay in an MMO game. Move the "story team" back to making officially solo games and hiring people with actual MMO design experience would be the logical path to take.