Jeff Hickman and Bruce Maclean now on IGN with details on story

My brain is about to collapse when I try to think about how this will effect the current game and all of my characters. I don't get how this works. If I am in this new timeframe, will I be able to run a SM Esselles just for fun nonetheless? Visit the Black Hole for some level 50 dailies? Do old achievements? ... And the companions who have their own room in my stronghold, will they not be standing there anymore, chatting with each other?

This sounds like a new game to me and I have the option to either play it with a new char or transform my existing chars into this new game while giving up the old game.

I want my main to stay in the current timeframe, that's for sure.

I would be fine with that, but people here seem to be happy if there were NO raids and NO addition to pvp, and they seem to want single player only. Which is just ridiculous to be honest. This is an mmo, not an action adventure single player game.

They said as much, didn't they? Nine out of ten players linger on the story content while leveling instead of rushing to 60 to raid.

If 9 out of 10 players are playing at one, then that's what'll keep it alive... whether you like it or not.

You can already go back to Imperial-controlled Balmorra, even after the storyline has progressed to where the Republic has liberated it. You can already pop into Flashpoints that explicitly happen during the Cold War even after the Second Great War has started.

I think (and hope) this will be the same deal - gating off all the old content would be kinda nuts.

I dont think they thought this through to be honest.

There are enough MMOs out now that there can be different niches within the genre - some where grouping is absolutely necessary, some where it is completely optional, and some where it's just a matter of seeing other player characters running around in the same general environment as yours.

I'm guessing they will be more in line with the Ravagers. Side quests. TBH, that doesn't bother me. I'm fine with side quest operations and flashpoints, but I do not want to see them removed form the game. I like a lot of aspects of this game, but the OPs are what keep me subscribed.

You assume that everyone on the pve servers are only playing for story. Which is -not- the case at all. I play pvp, raids, flashpoints and story on the pve server TRE. And the majority of players do a combination of those as well. By no means are 9 out of 10 -only- doing story. That is just a ridiculous assumption. This game nearly went into cardiac arrest a year after its release because of no end game raid content, the only reason it survived is because of the f2p change and the introduction of new raid content AS WELL as story content and even some pvp content. If they just ignore everyone except the story players this game will go back into cardiac arrest very soon after the new xpac, especially if it is the same homogenous story we are being fed with SoR and Ziost.

Yes your team as in the team that did it in the non operation version and ravagers just may not have existed.

If you think that I'm so wrong and it is indeed the opposite and some sort of indication of them actually working towards a greater focus on operation content ( you know, the opposite of my view since I'm so wrong right? ) then I fail to see how you get this point of view from what is ACTUALLY going on.

Even looking at 12x EXP shows an incentive towards story and an interest also, I've never seen the game so dead in terms of being able to find pugs or GF pops for FPs or OPs and I assume either because people are bored of the lack of story content or those still playing are using 12x to enjoy story content they've not done.

I remember as a player not interested at all in this style of coop mutli player ( FPs / Operations ) I still at least gave them a go and learned that they were fun simply because I wanted to further the story. Come Ravagers/ToS though I've not even bothered with them because I really don't have to and gear grinding isn't that big of a deal to me.

Operations imo will become a side attraction like PVP. Nothing to do with the actual story but they are there if you are bored.

Focus will be on story as that is what sells and is what will keep people playing. Especially if all 8 classes story plays out differently ... operations ... who has time for operations?