Hey guys and gals. Thought I’d chime in. With plenty of “If I had a Billion Dollars”. Oh, to dreamy dream.

I started playing SWTOR around launch and after a few months I dropped it. I wasn’t really into it. I don’t totally remember why. I’m back though and I wanted to give some insight as to why.

So I have had a love / hate relationship with Star Wars since Episode I. Not going to go down that road. Just saying is all.

Last year (2019) I started reading the Bane trilogy. While I was watching Mando I decided to play KOTOR 1 & 2 again. In between Mando episodes I caught up on Rebels. See I had given up on Star Wars, until I realized. Consume what you like and forget the rest. Of course I wish it was all good, but that is simply impossible. No biggie.

Anyways, here I am and it’s the holidays. Work is slowed down, and I thought.., don’t I own SWTOR? I should check it out. So I did. The Onslaught expansion was already going and I heard things had changed. Didn’t know exactly what, but that there were some changes.

I got sucked in. I was hungry for Star Wars that I enjoyed. Or at least feel like I had some sway in. That is where I think the strength of this game lies.

The companies involved: I don’t like either company. Both have let me down. EA well you do what you do. Bioware.., huh.., like an ex g/f that was perfect but.., ugh I just can’t go back. (fill in your own experience on that). Regardless they are both full of resources and people. Both of which can come together to make great things. And SWTOR is good. Very good.

But I am here. Still playing. I have a few questions though…

FYI: I do not in anyway expect any of this to be doable. Nor do I think there is enough of a player base to justify any real game changing additions/improvements. There would need to be a crazy effective marketing campaign and a huge cash injections. A TOR movie is being planned but that could be a curse more than a blessing. Though I sincerely hope for the best.

Also so many of you have been playing this game for so much longer than me. Add or reason out any of this or none of it. Nothing new here at all. I would like to read others ideas though so feel free to link or move this post around to better organize these types of posts.

REAL QUICK! When I hyperdrive to a planet, can the sequence last longer. I just think it would be kewl to see the hyperdrive tunnel effect. Feel like I am traveling somewhere. Also be kewl if there were more scenes of landing and taking off from locations.

I could knit pick a bunch small stuff, but why...? I have played games for decades. Even remember having to patch games myself. A few quirks give a game character. Never fix the stiff arms bug. EVER!

For the low low price of $999,999,999,999.99

Why isn’t the story more dense? A lot happens, but really not really. 2 quest lines per planet mainly. One for the class and one for the planet. The player story quest seems sparse. Especially around the “twist”. I like the extended story bits. Would like to see more of that. To VO everything must be a pain though. Nothing to envy there. Just seems like there could be a bit more meat to chew on along the way. Exploration quests are neat. Bonus objectives are very kewl, but I think a bit bland. Idk, just something seems off. Overall though what is there is more than most and the VO is just great.

Why is the endgame so.., MMO-ish…? I totally get that aspect of adding dungeons and raids. However, a game that is so story heavy that just kinda ends is weird. I was hoping for, “Hey, go explore the galaxy and unlock the mysteries of the force, get a job you bum, do some warring, or spy on some peeps yo!. But there isn’t. It kinda just drones on and there aren’t any open areas that are smash fest. A Diablo/POE approach of having a few planets/biomes that are just item smash fests that have instances which scale to group/solo size would be sick. Like weird tech or force thing, stuff gets wacky, go in and stomp everything.

Why aren’t all planets open to all factions? Yes, we are “at war”. But we aren’t. But we are. But we aren’t. So why can’t I visit any planet after a point. If not just to visit. But mostly to cause trouble. I would understand having to complete specific quests, but it just seems weird. It wouldn’t discourage players from playing the other faction. If done well it would further encourage it.

Why are there only 2 factions? Republic, Empire, and Cartels. Reps/Imps: Soldiers/Troopers, Jedi/Sith, and Spies/Agents. Cartels: Smugglers, Bounty Hunters, and Pirates. More on this. As I see a fundamental flaw here. The rule of two only applies to sith and we are set thousands of years before that rule is implemented anyways. BANE!!!!!!!

Why are saber styles locked to class? Why are weapon types locked to class? Abilities are already locked to weapon type. I am kewl with force users being limited to sabers and swords/staves. Also kewl with Non force peeps not being able to use sabers. But for a game where I am 75 long before the end of the class story, level seems to be a mook point. Which I really like. A lot! But why not have a 3rd line of quests to unlock proficiencies in all allowable weapons. Furthermore it would be nice to have “hidden” ability quests. The internet would make sure everyone could find them.

Why aren’t all deconstructable items unlockable to be crafted? I have spent some time deconstructing all kinds of items. But I only seem to unlock a very finite list. Which is weird. Also why can’t I make empty items to add mods? So strange to me since it would make all items and appearances viable. Minus, A HUGE MINUS, to Cartel Market stuff. Which does, and should have the most unique to iconic items and looks. For an arm and a leg of course.

Why isn’t there open war in some areas? Kinda contradicts going anywhere as any faction, but it also doesn’t. So here I go. Get ready to rave about this idea. Remember Warhammer Online? Yeah, I do too… UUUuuuuugh. BUT! I thought the fortress taking idea was kewl. Badly implemented. Also broke the rule only having 2 factions. Ahem, anyways, I enjoyed it. Something about smashing into an area and taking it for the faction and gaining a bonus was kewl. Just PvP mayhem. No real concern for balance or fairness. Just war in the open world. Maybe a walker or two. Slow and overpowered. With awkward controls… Oh wait, this isn’t Battlefield. My bad….

Why is space combat kinda good, kinda great, kinda bad…?

More open areas. I mentioned this with the whole end game thing, but it would kewl for space battles too. I get the Star Fox on rails. I like it. I really like the starfighter game mode. I just kinda wish I could go off the rails and take out big ships and fighters and stations and space whales. Also be nice to mod my ship visually and mechanically. Get new frames in game or through the Cartel Market.

That fundamental flaw. That prevails throughout all of Star Wars. It’s okay to bend and play with the tropes. Shhhhh… It’s okay. Everything will be okay. We are all adults here. Star Wars is fiction. The Original idea was a fluke. Yes, lightning in a bottle. Which is great. That sort of thing is very very rare. One man didn’t make the whole thing. And a super corporation can’t remake it. But we can move on. We can build and add to it. TEAM is key. Support is key. SWTOR is good. And that has been a rare thing when it comes to Star Wars.

REAL QUICK! When I hyperdrive to a planet, can the sequence last longer. I just think it would be kewl to see the hyperdrive tunnel effect. Feel like I am traveling somewhere. Also be kewl if there were more scenes of landing and taking off from locations.

So long as it's still easy to skip the landing/take-off scenes and so long as there's an option to remove the long hyperdrive, sure, why not? Once you've seen these things more than a couple of times, they become spacebar-hammer fodder.

Why isn’t the story more dense? A lot happens, but really not really. 2 quest lines per planet mainly. One for the class and one for the planet. The player story quest seems sparse. Especially around the “twist”. I like the extended story bits. Would like to see more of that. To VO everything must be a pain though.

And the VO thing is a big huge enormous part of why the stuff isn't denser. Alternatively: turn on "Show Exploration Missions" in your planet map and you'll see a bunch more things.

Why is the endgame so.., MMO-ish…?

Mostly because SWTOR is an ... MMO.

Why aren’t all planets open to all factions? Yes, we are “at war”.

We are, indeed, at war, and that is exactly why Sith can't go to Coruscant or Ord Mantell, for example.

But we aren’t. But we are. But we aren’t. So why can’t I visit any planet after a point. If not just to visit. But mostly to cause trouble. ... It wouldn’t discourage players from playing the other faction. If done well it would further encourage it.

This is one of those debates for which there is no right answer, but...

Back in the day there were separate PvP-oriented servers, but in the end they deaded-out, and the separation was removed in favour of a "PvP instance" on every shared planet. The emptiness of those PvP instances is a good indication how just how much people *aren't* interested in open-world PvP. I'm not saying that anyone's actively hostile to it (i.e. saying that it should be *removed*), but I'm like a lot of people: glad that I can go around questing without a gang of enemy-faction players coming along to whack me for taking a walk.

Why are there only 2 factions?

Because, right or wrong, that's what they built. (Equally, why are there only two factions in ArcheAge? Why are there three-and-not-two in the Secret World games? etc.)

Furthermore it would be nice to have “hidden” ability quests. The internet would make sure everyone could find them.

You've essentially answered your own question on the "hidden" part.

Why aren’t all deconstructable items unlockable to be crafted? I have spent some time deconstructing all kinds of items. But I only seem to unlock a very finite list. Which is weird

It's less weird than you think. You can only (aside from a specific thing that I'm not sure is even applicable now) deconstruct / reverse engineer *for*schematics* things you crafted yourself, *on*this*character*.

Also why can’t I make empty items to add mods?

You can, but you need to find the schematics for them. Search the GTN for schematics and you'll probably find some. They drop, but not often, from killed enemies in the open world and also, again not often, from certain crew skill missions.

Why isn’t there open war in some areas? Kinda contradicts going anywhere as any faction, but it also doesn’t. So here I go. Get ready to rave about this idea. Remember Warhammer Online? Yeah, I do too… UUUuuuuugh. BUT! I thought the fortress taking idea was kewl. Badly implemented. Also broke the rule only having 2 factions. Ahem, anyways, I enjoyed it. Something about smashing into an area and taking it for the faction and gaining a bonus was kewl. Just PvP mayhem.

There are some technical-performance reasons why not, but unless those areas are far away from the places where questing players go to quest, *also* see my remarks above about not wanting to get whacked for taking a walk.

So long as it's still easy to skip the landing/take-off scenes and so long as there's an option to remove the long hyperdrive, sure, why not? Once you've seen these things more than a couple of times, they become spacebar-hammer fodder.

Yeah, I think being able to skip it is inline with what is already in place.

Mostly because SWTOR is an ... MMO.

Yeah... So I was highlighting the duplicity of the game. Adding Raids and dungeons is par for the course. What separates SWTOR is the story, and its very awesome and accommodating solo play. To explain POE or Diablo have elements mixed like this. POE it MMO HUB's with instanced gaming areas. So the end game could be stamped into a framework that could be iterated quickly.

This is one of those debates for which there is no right answer, but...

Back in the day there were separate PvP-oriented servers, but in the end they deaded-out, and the separation was removed in favour of a "PvP instance" on every shared planet. The emptiness of those PvP instances is a good indication how just how much people *aren't* interested in open-world PvP. I'm not saying that anyone's actively hostile to it (i.e. saying that it should be *removed*), but I'm like a lot of people: glad that I can go around questing without a gang of enemy-faction players coming along to whack me for taking a walk.

So in Warhammer Online Uggh... There were open zones, like the one on Tattooine. They had, in WO, fortress or strongholds that could be taken by a faction. If a faction took hold of all the fortresses they would hold it for a time and that faction would gain a bonus. I see there are light and dark side points, but I don't see what we are "fighting for". These areas in WO were not in the way of general PvE areas, but close enough for convenience. Again not the best game to use as an example, but it is a good starting point to bring PvP back into the open world. But executing it, and avoiding the "griefing" is very possible.

Because, right or wrong, that's what they built. (Equally, why are there only two factions in ArcheAge? Why are there three-and-not-two in the Secret World games? etc.)

I was mainly refering to a rule in game design. Particualrly regarding Factions in an online game. 2 factions end up inbalanced and one side eventually dominate the other. In fact even faction numbers are typically frowned upon. Having 3 offsets that issue. Other games do chose the number for whatever reason, but mostly because of either being ignorant of this rule, or it does not apply due to other game design decisions. It doesn't apply to SWTOR because there is zero concequence to one faction dominating or losing to another faction. It also has no relevance because "morale" decisions are open to all factions and have little influence on the game world.

Adding a 3rd faction would open the door for open PvP, see above. It would also allow for players to see a movement in the timeline, and experience the SW universe in a new way.

You've essentially answered your own question on the "hidden" part.

Hidden as in not necessary, not along the beaten path, and something that can be stumbled upon. Also that was an aside so people don't have to worry about missing something.

Kewl! Thanks for the response.